Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) Shares Up 7.3% – What’s Next?

Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC)’s share price rose 7.3% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $5.07 and last traded at $4.7850. Approximately 27,954,405 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 72% from the average daily volume of 16,241,421 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LAC. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Lithium Americas from $3.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Scotiabank raised shares of Lithium Americas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Lithium Americas from a “speculative buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lithium Americas in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $5.00 price objective on shares of Lithium Americas in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Lithium Americas currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.33.

Lithium Americas Stock Up 7.3%

The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.56 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $5.71 and its 200-day moving average is $3.84. The company has a current ratio of 9.88, a quick ratio of 9.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was sold at an average price of $9.48, for a total transaction of $3,355,104.72. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 40,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,247.40. This represents a 89.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAC. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Lithium Americas by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 95,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 7,658 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new stake in Lithium Americas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of Lithium Americas by 67.1% in the first quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 311,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $843,000 after purchasing an additional 124,970 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Lithium Americas in the first quarter valued at approximately $504,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lithium Americas in the first quarter valued at approximately $277,000.

Lithium Americas Company Profile

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.