MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Hits New 12-Month High - Should You Buy?

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $24.82 and last traded at $24.80, with a volume of 1573870 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MP. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on MP Materials from $19.50 to $22.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MP Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.45.

MP Materials Stock Up 6.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.40 and a beta of 2.34. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.72 and a 200-day moving average of $17.21.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.11) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $62.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $45.30 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 32.24% and a negative return on equity of 6.78%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,195 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.30, for a total transaction of $278,068.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 295,021 shares in the company, valued at $5,398,884.30. This represents a 4.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 300,000 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.45, for a total value of $5,535,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 18,221,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $336,191,767.20. This represents a 1.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,271,085 shares of company stock worth $26,757,696 in the last 90 days. 12.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oak Family Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $530,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 1,245,796 shares of the company's stock worth $21,988,000 after purchasing an additional 306,933 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 806.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 42,944 shares of the company's stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 38,204 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in MP Materials by 167.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 35,902 shares of the company's stock valued at $560,000 after buying an additional 22,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in MP Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,300,000. 52.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About MP Materials

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.

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