Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC)

Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 152,991 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 428% compared to the typical volume of 28,959 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lithium Americas 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lithium Americas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LAC. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $73,000. Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Revisor Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Lithium Americas by 107.3% in the 1st quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC now owns 158,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 82,081 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Lithium Americas by 94.2% in the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 277,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $753,000 after acquiring an additional 134,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Wealth Network Inc. lifted its position in Lithium Americas by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 231,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 14,459 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Lithium Americas from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Cormark downgraded Lithium Americas from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. TD Securities downgraded 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Lithium Americas from $3.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Lithium Americas from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lithium Americas presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.33.

Lithium Americas Stock Performance

Lithium Americas stock opened at $9.46 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 9.88, a current ratio of 9.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.11 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $4.45 and its 200 day moving average is $3.36. Lithium Americas has a twelve month low of $2.31 and a twelve month high of $10.52.

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.02). On average, equities research analysts predict that Lithium Americas will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Lithium Americas

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.