Aurora Investment Counsel Raises Stock Position in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Aurora Investment Counsel lifted its stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,153 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in MP Materials by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,635,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,669,000 after buying an additional 254,881 shares during the last quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC raised its position in MP Materials by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 250,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,962,000 after purchasing an additional 90,000 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in MP Materials by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 62,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 8,376 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in MP Materials by 2,536.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,661,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598,861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in MP Materials by 12.4% in the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 47,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares during the period. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MP Materials news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.84 per share, with a total value of $325,200.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer now owns 1,402,975 shares in the company, valued at $15,208,249. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 12.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of MP Materials from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on MP Materials from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on MP Materials from $15.50 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on MP Materials from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.61.

MP Materials Stock Down 4.0 %

MP Materials stock opened at $17.65 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $13.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.57. The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of -117.67 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 6.90 and a quick ratio of 6.17. MP Materials Corp. has a 1-year low of $10.02 and a 1-year high of $20.85.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.03 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 51.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MP Materials announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 13.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.