Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) Trading Up 2.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) shares shot up 2.5% during trading on Monday after Cormark upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a moderate buy rating. The company traded as high as $4.89 and last traded at $4.86. 9,459,514 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 16,274,612 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.74.

LAC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lithium Americas in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wedbush raised their price target on Lithium Americas from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Scotiabank upgraded Lithium Americas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Lithium Americas from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has 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.

Insider Transactions at Lithium Americas

In other news, VP Alexi Illya Zawadzki sold 353,914 shares of Lithium Americas stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.48, for a total transaction of $3,355,104.72. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 40,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Edward Grandy sold 6,183 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 135,466 shares in the company, valued at $609,597. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 364,874 shares of company stock valued at $3,404,477. 1.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lithium Americas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LAC. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in Lithium Americas by 86.1% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 9,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 4,580 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new stake in Lithium Americas during the first quarter worth $27,000. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Lithium Americas in the third quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Gainplan LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lithium Americas during the 3rd quarter worth about $58,000.

Lithium Americas Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.00 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $5.98 and its 200-day moving average is $3.93.

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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.

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.