Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) Shares Up 2.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) shot up 2.5% during mid-day trading on Monday after Cormark upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a moderate buy rating. The company traded as high as $4.89 and last traded at $4.86. 9,459,514 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 16,274,612 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.74.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of Lithium Americas in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Lithium Americas from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Lithium Americas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Scotiabank raised Lithium Americas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded Lithium Americas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $5.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.33.

Insider Transactions at Lithium Americas

In related news, VP Alexi Illya Zawadzki sold 353,914 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.48, for a total transaction of $3,355,104.72. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 40,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,247.40. This represents a 89.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Edward Grandy sold 6,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.50, for a total transaction of $27,823.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 135,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,597. This trade represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 364,874 shares of company stock worth $3,404,477. 1.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lithium Americas by 158.1% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,479,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,679,000 after purchasing an additional 8,868,971 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Lithium Americas by 1,188.3% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,307,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,885,000 after buying an additional 3,050,405 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Lithium Americas by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,755,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,350,000 after buying an additional 45,941 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Lithium Americas by 44.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,405,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,736,000 after buying an additional 739,007 shares during the period. Finally, Old West Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lithium Americas during the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,647,000.

Lithium Americas Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.00 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $5.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.93.

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.03. On average, analysts expect that Lithium Americas Corp. will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Lithium Americas

Lithium Americas Corp. engages in the exploration and development of lithium properties in the United States and Canada. It holds a 100% interest in the Thacker Pass project located in northern Nevada, as well as investments in exploration properties in the United States and Canada. Lithium Americas Corp.