Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) Stock Price Down 2.4% – Here’s What Happened

Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC)’s stock price fell 2.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $4.75 and last traded at $4.7650. 7,552,665 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 15,968,101 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Lithium Americas from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of Lithium Americas in a report on Thursday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Lithium Americas from $3.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lithium Americas in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Cormark upgraded Lithium Americas from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.33.

Lithium Americas Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $5.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.25. The company has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.55 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 3.77 and a current ratio of 3.77.

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.03. On average, analysts predict that Lithium Americas Corp. will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Edward Grandy sold 6,183 shares of Lithium Americas stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.50, for a total transaction of $27,823.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 135,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,597. This trade represents a 4.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Alexi Illya Zawadzki sold 353,914 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 40,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,247.40. The trade was a 89.84% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 364,874 shares of company stock worth $3,404,477. 1.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lithium Americas

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Lithium Americas by 158.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,479,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,679,000 after buying an additional 8,868,971 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Lithium Americas by 1,188.3% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,307,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,885,000 after purchasing an additional 3,050,405 shares during the period. Old West Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Lithium Americas in the third quarter valued at approximately $7,647,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Lithium Americas by 3,173.0% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 846,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,266,000 after purchasing an additional 821,120 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Lithium Americas by 44.3% during the third 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 period.

About Lithium Americas

Lithium Americas Corp. is a Vancouver?based resource company focused on the development of lithium projects to support the global transition to electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. The company specializes in advancing lithium brine and claystone assets through feasibility studies, environmental permitting and engineering design. Its technical teams work to produce high?purity lithium chemicals, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, for battery manufacturers worldwide.

Lithium Americas’ two flagship projects are the Cauchari?Olaroz lithium brine operation in Jujuy Province, Argentina—developed in partnership with Ganfeng Lithium—and the Thacker Pass lithium clay deposit in northern Nevada, United States.