Lithium Americas (Argentina) Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:LAR)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. (NYSE:LAR) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 4,600 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 120% compared to the average volume of 2,092 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LAR. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 119.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,594,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,045,000 after buying an additional 5,219,416 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 9.3% in the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 4,786,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,975,000 after purchasing an additional 408,065 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 102.1% in the third quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 4,200,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,029,000 after purchasing an additional 2,122,035 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Lithium Americas (Argentina) during the first quarter worth $5,368,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 6.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,332,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,790,000 after purchasing an additional 133,572 shares during the last quarter. 49.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on LAR. Zacks Research raised Lithium Americas (Argentina) from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) in a research report on Thursday. National Bankshares raised their target price on Lithium Americas (Argentina) from $4.75 to $6.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Lithium Americas (Argentina) from $3.50 to $4.25 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $4.92.

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Stock Performance

Shares of LAR stock opened at $5.38 on Friday. Lithium Americas has a 52 week low of $1.71 and a 52 week high of $5.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $4.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.54.

Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.01). On average, analysts predict that Lithium Americas will post -0.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Company Profile

Lithium Americas (Argentina) is a subsidiary of Lithium Americas Corp. focused on the exploration, development and production of lithium brine resources in the Jujuy province of northwest Argentina. The company’s principal asset is the Cauchari-Olaroz project, situated within the Lithium Triangle, one of the world’s richest regions for lithium-bearing brines. Through its Argentine operations, Lithium Americas aims to supply battery-grade lithium carbonate critical to electric vehicle and energy-storage markets.

The Cauchari-Olaroz project encompasses concessions on the Salar de Cauchari and Salar de Olaroz salt flats, where detailed drilling programs and pilot‐scale evaporation ponds have demonstrated favorable lithium concentrations.