Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. (NYSE:LAR) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 33.3% in March to 7,888,141 shares (about 6.1% of shares sold short) with a days-to-cover ratio of 1.7, indicating rising bearish bets on LAR.
• Analysts have trended more positive recently, with several upgrades and higher price targets (TD to $9.00, Scotiabank to $8.50, Deutsche Bank to Buy), leaving a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target of $7.77.
• Shares traded at $8.78 with a market cap of roughly $1.42 billion, a 12‑month range of $1.71–$9.57, and a negative P/E of -18.67.

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. (NYSE:LAR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 7,888,141 shares, a growth of 33.3% from the March 15th total of 5,917,823 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,547,244 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 6.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 128,053 shares of the company's stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 103,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 26,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 3,214 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 3,552 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 54,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 3,575 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.17% of the company's stock.

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Stock Performance

Shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) stock traded down $0.44 on Friday, hitting $8.78. The stock had a trading volume of 5,087,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,469,786. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $7.12 and a 200 day moving average of $6.05. Lithium Americas has a twelve month low of $1.71 and a twelve month high of $9.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion and a P/E ratio of -18.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LAR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) from $7.75 to $8.50 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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, January 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) from $6.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $7.77.

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.

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