Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Shares of Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $3.00, but opened at $3.21. Lithium Americas shares last traded at $3.1550, with a volume of 7,740,834 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LAC. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Lithium Americas in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $4.50 price target on the stock. Scotia cut their target price on Lithium Americas from $5.00 to $4.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lithium Americas from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Lithium Americas from $4.50 to $4.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lithium Americas in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.44.

Lithium Americas Trading Down 5.6%

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.14 and a beta of 2.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 5.47 and a current ratio of 5.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.09.

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lithium Americas Corp. will post -0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Lithium Americas

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Lithium Americas by 1,188.3% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,307,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,885,000 after acquiring an additional 3,050,405 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Lithium Americas by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,495,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,282,000 after purchasing an additional 3,016,293 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Lithium Americas by 212.7% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,062,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,349,000 after purchasing an additional 2,082,891 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,055,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,958,000.

Lithium Americas Company Profile

Lithium Americas Corp. is a Vancouver‐based resource company focused on the development of lithium projects to support the global transition to electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. The company specializes in advancing lithium brine and claystone assets through feasibility studies, environmental permitting and engineering design. Its technical teams work to produce high‐purity lithium chemicals, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, for battery manufacturers worldwide.

Lithium Americas’ two flagship projects are the Cauchari‐Olaroz lithium brine operation in Jujuy Province, Argentina—developed in partnership with Ganfeng Lithium—and the Thacker Pass lithium clay deposit in northern Nevada, United States.