BMO Capital Markets Boosts MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Price Target to $18.50

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) had its target price boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $16.00 to $18.50 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MP. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $13.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on MP Materials from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on MP Materials from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MP Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.40.

MP Materials Price Performance

MP stock opened at $18.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -124.23 and a beta of 2.23. MP Materials has a 52 week low of $10.02 and a 52 week high of $20.85. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.03. The company has a quick ratio of 6.17, a current ratio of 6.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.07 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that MP Materials will post -0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MP Materials announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 13.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.84 per share, for a total transaction of $325,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,402,975 shares in the company, valued at $15,208,249. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MP Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in shares of MP Materials by 2.3% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 35,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MP Materials by 0.5% in the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 190,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,355,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel lifted its holdings in MP Materials by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 66,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MP Materials by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 16,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.