Brokerages Set MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) Price Target at $19.89

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.89.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MP. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MP Materials in a report on Monday, July 15th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $16.50 target price on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on MP Materials from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on MP Materials from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on MP Materials from $15.50 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.84 per share, with a total value of $325,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,402,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,208,249. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MP Materials

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MP. Sycomore Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 27.8% in the second quarter. Sycomore Asset Management now owns 37,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 8,083 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 26.3% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 847,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,785,000 after buying an additional 176,219 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 1.7% during the second quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 66,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 64.6% during the second quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 7,906 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 58.1% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 104,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after acquiring an additional 38,377 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MP opened at $13.85 on Monday. MP Materials has a 12-month low of $10.02 and a 12-month high of $22.81. The company has a quick ratio of 6.17, a current ratio of 6.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -92.33 and a beta of 2.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $13.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.55.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.08). MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 4.28% and a negative net margin of 21.94%. The firm had revenue of $31.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that MP Materials will post -0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MP Materials announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, September 3rd that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.