MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Stock Price Up 7.9%

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) shot up 7.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $15.53 and last traded at $15.35. 346,885 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 3,320,372 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.23.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MP Materials from $13.50 to $16.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on MP Materials from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. 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 report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of MP Materials from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.11.

MP Materials Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 6.90 and a quick ratio of 6.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -107.79 and a beta of 2.22.

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 company had revenue of $31.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.03 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 $15,208,249. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 12.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 153,700.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,537 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 3,803.8% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 3,956 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $100,000. Finally, Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership now owns 8,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. 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.