Lithium Americas (TSE:LAC) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Lithium Americas Corp. (TSE:LAC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$8.05 and last traded at C$6.79, with a volume of 733724 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$6.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on LAC. Cormark raised shares of Lithium Americas from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Lithium Americas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. National Bankshares cut their price target on shares of Lithium Americas from C$10.00 to C$7.50 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 19th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Lithium Americas from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group set a C$6.50 price objective on shares of Lithium Americas and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$7.00.

Lithium Americas Trading Up 1.2%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is C$7.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$5.89. The company has a market capitalization of C$2.01 billion, a PE ratio of -6.12 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 52.06, a current ratio of 13.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Timothy Crowley sold 4,763 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$6.33, for a total transaction of C$30,149.79. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 128,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$815,272.35. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their position. Also, insider Aubree Barnum sold 4,763 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$6.33, for a total value of C$30,149.79. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,397 shares in the company, valued at C$420,293.01. This trade represents a 6.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold a total of 21,827 shares of company stock valued at $138,165 in the last 90 days. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lithium Americas Company Profile

Lithium Americas is developing three lithium production assets, two brine resources located in northwestern Argentina and a clay resource in Nevada, U.S. While the company has no current lithium production, we expect the first Argentina resource, Cauchari-Olaroz, to enter production in late 2022. We expect the Nevada project, Thacker Pass, to enter production in the middle of the 2020s and the second brine resource, Pastos Grandes, to enter production in the late-2020s. Lithium Americas plans for all three resources to be fully integrated, selling into the lithium chemical market.