Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAR) Upgraded by Scotiabank to Sector Outperform Rating

Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAR) was upgraded by stock analysts at Scotiabank from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $7.75 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $4.25. Scotiabank’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 11.03% from the stock’s previous close.

LAR has been the subject of several other research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Lithium Americas (Argentina) from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Lithium Americas (Argentina) from $6.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, National Bankshares lifted their price target on shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) from $4.75 to $6.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lithium Americas (Argentina) presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.69.

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Price Performance

NYSE:LAR opened at $6.98 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.99. Lithium Americas has a 1-year low of $1.71 and a 1-year high of $7.22. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.96.

Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.01). On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lithium Americas will post -0.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lithium Americas (Argentina)

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LAR. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 119.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,594,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,219,416 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP grew its position in Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 102.1% in the third quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 4,200,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,029,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122,035 shares during the period. Seldon Capital LP acquired a new stake in Lithium Americas (Argentina) during the third quarter worth $6,076,000. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Lithium Americas (Argentina) in the first quarter valued at $3,456,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 42.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,198,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,573,000 after purchasing an additional 653,351 shares during the last quarter. 49.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Lithium Americas (Argentina)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) is a subsidiary of Lithium Americas Corp. focused on the exploration, development and production of lithium brine resources in the Jujuy province of northwest Argentina. The company’s principal asset is the Cauchari-Olaroz project, situated within the Lithium Triangle, one of the world’s richest regions for lithium-bearing brines. Through its Argentine operations, Lithium Americas aims to supply battery-grade lithium carbonate critical to electric vehicle and energy-storage markets.

The Cauchari-Olaroz project encompasses concessions on the Salar de Cauchari and Salar de Olaroz salt flats, where detailed drilling programs and pilot‐scale evaporation ponds have demonstrated favorable lithium concentrations.