Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) Trading 7% Higher - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares rose 7% Monday to $4.965 (intraday high $4.96) on unusually light trading—volume was about 71% below the stock's average daily volume.
• Analysts are mixed but overall cautious: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $5.71, while broker notes range from Jefferies' "Buy" to Weiss Ratings' "Sell" and Wedbush's $8 target.
• The company (market cap ≈ $1.82B) reported a Q1 loss of ($0.37) per share, missing estimates and with analysts forecasting roughly -0.3 EPS for the year, even as large investors like VanEck and Millennium boosted their stakes.

Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC - Get Free Report) shares rose 7% on Monday . The company traded as high as $4.96 and last traded at $4.9650. Approximately 3,341,648 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 11,477,407 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on LAC. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Lithium Americas in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. TD Securities raised shares of Lithium Americas to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wedbush began coverage on Lithium Americas in a report on Monday, April 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Lithium Americas from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Lithium Americas in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $5.71.

Lithium Americas Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.11. The firm has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.40 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a current ratio of 5.16, a quick ratio of 5.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.33). As a group, analysts forecast that Lithium Americas Corp. will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Lithium Americas by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,495,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,282,000 after acquiring an additional 3,016,293 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lithium Americas by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,489,568 shares of the company's stock worth $19,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182,465 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Lithium Americas by 212.7% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,062,306 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,349,000 after purchasing an additional 2,082,891 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Lithium Americas by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,755,404 shares of the company's stock worth $7,350,000 after purchasing an additional 45,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Lithium Americas by 44.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,405,568 shares of the company's stock worth $13,736,000 after purchasing an additional 739,007 shares in the last quarter.

Lithium Americas Company Profile

Lithium Americas Corp. is a Vancouver‐based resource company focused on the development of lithium projects to support the global transition to electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. The company specializes in advancing lithium brine and claystone assets through feasibility studies, environmental permitting and engineering design. Its technical teams work to produce high‐purity lithium chemicals, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, for battery manufacturers worldwide.

Lithium Americas' two flagship projects are the Cauchari‐Olaroz lithium brine operation in Jujuy Province, Argentina—developed in partnership with Ganfeng Lithium—and the Thacker Pass lithium clay deposit in northern Nevada, United States.

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