MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $24.07 and last traded at $24.09, with a volume of 2942837 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $22.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of MP Materials from $19.50 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.45.

MP Materials Stock Up 10.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 6.93, a quick ratio of 6.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $19.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.94. The company has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.35 and a beta of 2.34.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by ($0.04). MP Materials had a negative net margin of 32.24% and a negative return on equity of 6.78%. The firm had revenue of $62.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.30, for a total transaction of $278,068.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 295,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,398,884.30. This represents a 4.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 234,667 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.68, for a total transaction of $4,852,913.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,608,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,141,898.12. This trade represents a 1.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 884,862 shares of company stock valued at $17,484,482 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MP. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 23.1% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 13,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 2,515 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $219,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 425.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 801,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,201,000 after purchasing an additional 648,838 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $182,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 136.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

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.