Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) Stock Price Down 6.3% Following Insider Selling

Key Points

• Lithium Americas Corp. shares dropped by 6.3% after insider selling, with VP Alexi Illya Zawadzki selling 353,914 shares for over $3.3 million.
• Recent analyst ratings have been mixed, with TD Securities downgrading the stock from "buy" to "hold" and setting a price target at $5.00.
• The company's quarterly earnings revealed a miss, reporting a loss of ($0.06) per share against analysts' expectations of ($0.04).

Shares of Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC - Get Free Report) were down 6.3% on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $8.44 and last traded at $8.47. Approximately 88,456,822 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 608% from the average daily volume of 12,495,799 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.04.

Specifically, 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 transaction of $3,355,104.72. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 40,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $379,247.40. The trade was a 89.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LAC. TD Securities downgraded shares of Lithium Americas from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $5.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Lithium Americas from a "speculative buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Lithium Americas from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Lithium Americas from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Cormark downgraded Lithium Americas from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithium Americas currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $5.33.

Lithium Americas Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3.50 and a 200-day moving average of $3.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.82 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 9.88, a current ratio of 9.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.02). On average, research analysts anticipate that Lithium Americas Corp. will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Lithium Americas by 86.1% in the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 9,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 4,580 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ping Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Members Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Lithium Americas in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Lithium Americas in the second quarter valued at $28,000.

About Lithium Americas

Lithium Americas Corp. engages in the exploration and development of lithium properties in the United States and Canada. It holds a 100% interest in the Thacker Pass project located in northern Nevada, as well as investments in exploration properties in the United States and Canada. Lithium Americas Corp.

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