Pullen Investment Management LLC Acquires 2,223 Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP)

Pullen Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) by 10.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,436 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,223 shares during the quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in MP Materials by 136.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in MP Materials by 817.5% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 3,262 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in MP Materials by 3,803.8% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 3,956 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in MP Materials in the second quarter valued at about $72,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $100,000. Institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In related news, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.84 per share, with a total value of $325,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,402,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,208,249. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 12.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price 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. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $16.00 to $18.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $13.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of MP Materials from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.40.

MP Materials Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MP opened at $18.64 on Friday. MP Materials Corp. has a 52 week low of $10.02 and a 52 week high of $20.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 6.17 and a current ratio of 6.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of -46.60 and a beta of 2.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.02.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last issued its 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 net margin of 21.94% and a negative return on equity of 4.28%. The firm had revenue of $31.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 51.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

MP Materials declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, September 3rd that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.