Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI)

Li Auto Inc. Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:LI) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 11,960 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 42% compared to the average volume of 8,401 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Li Auto from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Li Auto in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $14.50 price objective on shares of Li Auto in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Li Auto from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Li Auto from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Li Auto has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.28.

Li Auto Stock Down 0.4%

LI stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $12.18. The stock had a trading volume of 632,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,746,452. Li Auto has a 1-year low of $11.65 and a 1-year high of $27.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $12.48 and a 200 day moving average of $15.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.18 and a beta of 0.55.

Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter. Li Auto had a negative net margin of 4.44% and a negative return on equity of 6.58%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts expect that Li Auto will post -0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Li Auto

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Xiamen Xinweidachuang Investment Partnership Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Li Auto during the 2nd quarter valued at $57,833,177. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Li Auto by 133.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,636,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505,991 shares in the last quarter. SIH Partners LLLP boosted its holdings in Li Auto by 184.7% in the fourth quarter. SIH Partners LLLP now owns 2,199,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426,745 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Li Auto by 648.8% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 727,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,259,000 after buying an additional 630,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Li Auto by 167.0% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 536,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,087,000 after buying an additional 335,718 shares during the last quarter. 9.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Li Auto

Li Auto Inc is a Chinese automotive company that develops, manufactures and sells smart electric vehicles, with an early focus on range-extended electric SUVs designed for family use. The company is headquartered in China and serves the domestic market through a combination of online channels and a network of retail/showroom locations. Li Auto was founded to address range-anxiety in electric vehicle buyers by integrating a small internal-combustion engine as a range extender alongside a large battery, enabling longer driving range while retaining electric driving characteristics.

The company’s product lineup centers on multi?occupant SUVs that combine electric propulsion, advanced in?vehicle connectivity and driver?assistance features.