Lithium Americas (TSE:LAC) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Lithium Americas Corp. (TSE:LAC) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$11.02 and last traded at C$7.95, with a volume of 1817303 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$7.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Lithium Americas Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is C$6.92 and its 200-day moving average price is C$6.20. The company has a market capitalization of C$2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.40 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 52.06 and a current ratio of 13.88.

Insider Activity at Lithium Americas

In other news, insider Richard Gerspacher sold 6,118 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$38,726.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 84,443 shares in the company, valued at C$534,524.19. This trade represents a 6.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Edward Grandy sold 6,183 shares of the firm’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 transaction of C$39,138.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 135,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$857,499.78. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their position. Insiders sold a total of 21,827 shares of company stock valued at $138,165 over the last three months. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

About Lithium Americas

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.