Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the fifteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $5.3333.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank raised Lithium Americas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Lithium Americas from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Cormark lowered shares of Lithium Americas from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Cowen cut shares of Lithium Americas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Lithium Americas from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lithium Americas

In related news, VP Alexi Illya Zawadzki sold 353,914 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president owned 40,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,247.40. This trade represents a 89.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Edward Grandy sold 6,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.50, for a total transaction of $27,823.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 135,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $609,597. This represents a 4.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 364,860 shares of company stock valued at $3,404,362 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lithium Americas

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in 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 acquiring 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% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,307,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,885,000 after purchasing an additional 3,050,405 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 45,941 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 739,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Old West Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lithium Americas during the 3rd quarter worth $7,647,000.

Lithium Americas Stock Performance

NYSE LAC opened at $4.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of -4.50 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 9.88 and a current ratio of 3.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $5.87 and a 200-day moving average of $3.89. Lithium Americas has a 52-week low of $2.31 and a 52-week high of $10.52.

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) last released 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lithium Americas will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

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.