Traders Buy High Volume of Lithium Americas (Argentina) Call Options (NYSE:LAR)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. (NYSE:LAR) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 6,981 call options on the company. This is an increase of 188% compared to the average daily volume of 2,428 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LAR. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. National Bankshares lifted their price target on Lithium Americas (Argentina) from $4.75 to $6.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Lithium Americas (Argentina) from $6.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Scotiabank upgraded Lithium Americas (Argentina) from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $4.25 to $7.75 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.30 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.01.

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Stock Performance

NYSE:LAR traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $8.33. 1,070,237 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,359,620. The company has a fifty day moving average of $5.45 and a 200 day moving average of $4.10. Lithium Americas has a twelve month low of $1.71 and a twelve month high of $8.67. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion and a P/E ratio of -16.66.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lithium Americas (Argentina)

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,219,416 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Seldon Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) in the third quarter worth about $6,076,000. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) during the first quarter worth about $3,456,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 42.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,198,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,573,000 after buying an additional 653,351 shares during the period. 49.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Lithium Americas (Argentina)

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.