MP Materials Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:MP)

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 8,137 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 83% compared to the average daily volume of 4,444 call options.

MP Materials Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:MP traded down $0.21 on Friday, hitting $23.90. 3,881,800 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,852,481. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a PE ratio of -44.27 and a beta of 2.34. MP Materials has a fifty-two week low of $10.02 and a fifty-two week high of $24.80. 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 $17.19.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $62.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $45.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.02 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that MP Materials will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MP Materials from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on MP Materials from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 15,195 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.30, for a total value of $278,068.50. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 386,223 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $9,273,214.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,643,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $375,590,254.76. The trade was a 2.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,271,085 shares of company stock worth $26,757,696. Insiders own 12.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MP. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in MP Materials in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 205.4% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,749 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,849 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 204.7% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 817.5% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,661 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 3,262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.