Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) Stock Has Average Price Target of $5.25

Key Points

• Analysts rate Lithium Americas “Hold” on average: six of 11 covering firms are neutral, four rate it a buy and one a sell. Their average 12-month price target is $5.25.
• Recent analyst opinions are mixed, including Canaccord’s upgrade to “speculative buy” and a $6 target from JPMorgan, while BMO set a $3.50 target and Weiss maintained a sell rating.
• Shares opened at $1.95, near the stock’s 12-month low of $1.77 and below its 50- and 200-day moving averages. The company reported a quarterly loss of $0.02 per share, better than analysts’ expected $0.04 loss.

Shares of Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $5.25.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets set a $3.50 target price on Lithium Americas in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Lithium Americas from a "hold" rating to a "speculative buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Lithium Americas in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Lithium Americas in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lithium Americas from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LAC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Lithium Americas by 229.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 565,135 shares of the company's stock worth $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 393,842 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in Lithium Americas in the 2nd quarter worth about $838,000. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Lithium Americas by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 1,328,620 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,494,000 after buying an additional 190,815 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Lithium Americas by 183.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 189,987 shares of the company's stock valued at $750,000 after buying an additional 123,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Lithium Americas in the 2nd quarter valued at about $417,000.

Lithium Americas Stock Performance

Shares of LAC opened at $1.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.47, a quick ratio of 5.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $706.11 million, a P/E ratio of -5.26 and a beta of 2.74. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $2.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.86. Lithium Americas has a 12 month low of $1.77 and a 12 month high of $6.96.

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. As a group, analysts predict that Lithium Americas will post -0.07 EPS for the current year.

Lithium Americas Company Profile

Lithium Americas Corp. NYSE: LAC is a development-stage lithium company focused on advancing lithium resources in North America. Its principal project is Thacker Pass, an open-pit lithium claystone project in Humboldt County, Nevada. The company plans to process the extracted material into battery-grade lithium carbonate for use in electric vehicle batteries and other energy-storage applications.

Thacker Pass is being developed in phases and is supported by strategic investment and government financing arrangements, including a loan from the U.S.

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