Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $5.76, but opened at $6.00. Lithium Americas shares last traded at $5.7350, with a volume of 5,894,254 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Lithium Americas from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Cowen lowered shares of Lithium Americas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Cormark raised shares of Lithium Americas from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. TD Securities downgraded shares of Lithium Americas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $5.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Lithium Americas from $3.50 to $5.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.81.

Lithium Americas Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.59 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s 50 day moving average is $4.97 and its 200-day moving average is $4.47. The company has a current ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithium Americas

In related news, SVP Edward Grandy sold 6,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.50, for a total value of $27,823.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 135,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $609,597. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,960 shares of company stock worth $49,372. 1.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lithium Americas

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lithium Americas by 158.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,479,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,679,000 after purchasing an additional 8,868,971 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lithium Americas by 1,188.3% during the 3rd 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. grew 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 valued at $7,350,000 after buying an additional 45,941 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised 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 acquiring an additional 739,007 shares during the period. Finally, Old West Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lithium Americas during the third quarter worth approximately $7,647,000.

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.