Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 24,203 Shares of MP Materials Corp. $MP

by · The Cerbat Gem

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lowered its stake in MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP – Free Report) by 51.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,505 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,203 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in MP Materials were worth $749,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of MP Materials in the second quarter worth about $132,238,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in MP Materials by 19,314.3% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,013,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,987,000 after buying an additional 2,003,091 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in MP Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,288,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in MP Materials by 76.3% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,921,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of MP Materials by 429.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,550,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257,282 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.55% of the company’s stock.

MP Materials Stock Down 6.1%

Shares of MP opened at $53.21 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a PE ratio of -74.95 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a fifty day moving average of $65.07 and a 200 day moving average of $58.73. MP Materials Corp. has a 52-week low of $15.56 and a 52-week high of $100.25. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 8.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $53.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.72 million. MP Materials had a negative net margin of 50.55% and a negative return on equity of 7.69%. The business’s revenue was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at MP Materials

In other news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 38,146 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $2,288,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 156,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,399,960. This represents a 19.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James H. Litinsky sold 385,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.94, for a total value of $24,231,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,105,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $824,889,437.10. This represents a 2.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 691,557 shares of company stock worth $43,538,586 over the last three months. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of MP Materials in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of MP Materials from $78.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MP Materials in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of MP Materials from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of MP Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $68.50 to $71.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.91.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on MP Materials

About MP Materials

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading