Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $4.46, but opened at $4.62. Lithium Americas shares last traded at $4.8150, with a volume of 14,856,391 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LAC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of Lithium Americas in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lithium Americas in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wedbush lifted their target price on Lithium Americas from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Cowen downgraded Lithium Americas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Lithium Americas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lithium Americas presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.33.

Lithium Americas Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 9.88 and a quick ratio of 9.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.57 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.83.

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.03. On average, analysts expect that Lithium Americas Corp. will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lithium Americas news, VP Alexi Illya Zawadzki sold 353,914 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 40,005 shares in the company, valued at $379,247.40. This trade represents a 89.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Lithium Americas by 86.1% in the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 9,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 4,580 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in Lithium Americas during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lithium Americas in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Gainplan LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas in the third quarter worth $58,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas in the third quarter worth $60,000.

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.