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

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors bought 7,981 call options on the company. This is an increase of 101% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,975 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MP Materials

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MP Materials by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,635,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,669,000 after acquiring an additional 254,881 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in MP Materials by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,933,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,401,000 after purchasing an additional 157,764 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in MP Materials by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,965,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,498,000 after purchasing an additional 200,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of MP Materials by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,122,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,976,000 after acquiring an additional 411,771 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MP opened at $16.02 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 9.54, a current ratio of 10.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.55. The stock has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 123.24 and a beta of 2.42. MP Materials has a 52 week low of $12.68 and a 52 week high of $28.71.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.05). MP Materials had a return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 9.59%. The firm had revenue of $41.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.40 million. On average, analysts expect that MP Materials will post -0.13 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut MP Materials from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $26.00 to $15.50 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on MP Materials from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on MP Materials from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on MP Materials from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on MP Materials from $36.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Two 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.com, MP Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.44.

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.