MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 7.9% – Here’s What Happened

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shares were down 7.9% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $23.41 and last traded at $23.92. Approximately 988,018 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 3,178,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson upped their price target on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.61.

MP Materials Stock Down 5.9 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.22. The company has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.06 and a beta of 2.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 6.93 and a quick ratio of 6.13.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.05). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 32.09% and a negative return on equity of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $60.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $50.71 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.51, for a total value of $1,530,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 230,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,869,851. This represents a 20.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 18,519 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total value of $500,013.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,842,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $373,740,912. The trade was a 0.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,130,835 shares of company stock worth $29,165,987. Corporate insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MP. JT Stratford LLC raised its holdings in MP Materials by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 63,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $993,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 5.0% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 11,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in MP Materials by 40.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the period. Finally, SWS Partners grew its holdings in MP Materials by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. SWS Partners now owns 162,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,535,000 after buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MP Materials Company Profile

MP Materials Corp., together with its subsidiaries, produces rare earth materials. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth mine and processing facility in North America. It holds the mineral rights to the Mountain Pass mine and surrounding areas, as well as intellectual property rights related to the processing and development of rare earth minerals.