Scotiabank Reiterates “Sector Underperform” Rating for Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC)

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC)‘s stock had its “sector underperform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Scotiabank in a note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $5.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $2.75. Scotiabank’s price target points to a potential downside of 39.58% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Lithium Americas from $3.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Cormark cut Lithium Americas from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Lithium Americas in a report on Saturday, September 27th. TD Securities cut Lithium Americas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $5.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut Lithium Americas from a “speculative buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.33.

Lithium Americas Stock Down 2.1%

NYSE:LAC opened at $8.28 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 9.88 and a current ratio of 9.88. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of -35.98 and a beta of 1.43. Lithium Americas has a 52-week low of $2.31 and a 52-week high of $9.48. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.12.

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.02). On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lithium Americas will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lithium Americas news, VP Alexi Illya Zawadzki sold 353,914 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president owned 40,005 shares in the company, valued at $379,247.40. This represents a 89.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lithium Americas by 18.1% in the second quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,012,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,714,000 after buying an additional 155,068 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 324,518 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas in the first quarter worth about $277,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas in the first quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas in the first quarter worth about $504,000.

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.