Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) Trading Up 7.1% – What’s Next?

Shares of Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) rose 7.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $5.63 and last traded at $5.6350. Approximately 19,280,995 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 19% from the average daily volume of 16,264,127 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on LAC. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Lithium Americas from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $5.00 price target on shares of Lithium Americas in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Scotiabank raised shares of Lithium Americas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Lithium Americas from $3.50 to $5.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Securities cut Lithium Americas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $5.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Three research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.33.

Lithium Americas Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.37 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 3.77 and a current ratio of 3.77.

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.03. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lithium Americas Corp. will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Lithium Americas

In other news, SVP Edward Grandy sold 6,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 135,466 shares in the company, valued at $609,597. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Alexi Illya Zawadzki sold 353,914 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.48, for a total value of $3,355,104.72. Following the sale, the vice president owned 40,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,247.40. This represents a 89.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 364,874 shares of company stock valued at $3,404,477. Corporate insiders own 1.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lithium Americas by 44.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,046,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,836,000 after acquiring an additional 324,518 shares in the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Lithium Americas by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,012,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,714,000 after purchasing an additional 155,068 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in Lithium Americas in the 1st quarter valued at $277,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Lithium Americas in the first quarter valued at about $504,000. Finally, Decade Renewable Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Lithium Americas by 51.7% during the first quarter. Decade Renewable Partners LP now owns 680,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,843,000 after purchasing an additional 231,900 shares in the last quarter.

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.