MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Given New $18.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $15.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target suggests a potential downside of 0.55% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on MP. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on MP Materials from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on MP Materials from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of MP Materials from $15.50 to $16.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MP Materials has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.15.

MP Materials Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MP traded down $0.48 on Monday, reaching $18.10. 1,788,000 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,330,211. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -120.67 and a beta of 2.23. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $14.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.94. The company has a current ratio of 6.90, a quick ratio of 6.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. MP Materials has a 52 week low of $10.02 and a 52 week high of $20.85.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $31.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.03 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 4.28% and a negative net margin of 21.94%. MP Materials's revenue was down 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MP Materials will post -0.48 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 repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 13.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal bought 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.84 per share, with a total value of $325,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 1,402,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,208,249. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 12.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials in the third quarter worth $313,000. Secure Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in MP Materials by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 101,125 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,785,000 after acquiring an additional 7,896 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 62,964 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 1,436 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 219.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 46,871 shares of the company's stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 32,176 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 25.7% in the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 118,648 shares of the company's stock worth $2,094,000 after acquiring an additional 24,231 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company's stock.

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.