MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 26,930,000 shares, a decrease of 13.5% from the April 30th total of 31,120,000 shares. Approximately 22.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,680,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days.
Insider Activity
In related news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.51, for a total transaction of $1,530,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 230,100 shares in the company, valued at $5,869,851. This trade represents a 20.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 199,180 shares of MP Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.08, for a total value of $5,393,794.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,643,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,454,498.08. This represents a 1.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 943,792 shares of company stock valued at $25,286,567 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 9.50% of the company's stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in MP Materials by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 54,626 shares of the company's stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 3,025 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in MP Materials by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of MP Materials by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 34,925 shares of the company's stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 5,973 shares during the last quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $344,000. Finally, Tandem Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials during the fourth quarter worth $698,000. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company's stock.
MP Materials Stock Performance
NYSE MP traded down $0.26 on Friday, hitting $25.67. The stock had a trading volume of 8,747,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,032,665. The company's 50-day moving average is $23.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.24. The company has a quick ratio of 6.13, a current ratio of 6.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.51 and a beta of 2.14. MP Materials has a one year low of $10.02 and a one year high of $29.72.
MP Materials (NYSE:MP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $60.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.74 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 8.44% and a negative net margin of 32.09%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. On average, analysts expect that MP Materials will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised MP Materials from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $23.00 to $34.00 in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on MP Materials from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on MP Materials from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on MP Materials from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.61.
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MP Materials Company Profile
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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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