Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) Stock Price Down 2.6% After Analyst Downgrade

Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) shares were down 2.6% during trading on Thursday after Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded the stock from a speculative buy rating to a sell rating. The stock traded as low as $6.63 and last traded at $6.86. Approximately 75,386,625 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 577% from the average daily volume of 11,136,464 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.04.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on LAC. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Lithium Americas from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Cormark upgraded Lithium Americas to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. TD Securities cut Lithium Americas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $5.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Lithium Americas from $3.50 to $5.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of Lithium Americas in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.08.

Institutional Trading of Lithium Americas

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LAC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 45,941 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Lithium Americas by 38.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,666,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,466,000 after acquiring an additional 459,252 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Lithium Americas by 44.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,046,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,836,000 after acquiring an additional 324,518 shares during the period. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Lithium Americas by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,012,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,714,000 after acquiring an additional 155,068 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Lithium Americas by 3,173.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 846,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,266,000 after acquiring an additional 821,120 shares during the period.

Lithium Americas Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of -29.80 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 9.88 and a current ratio of 9.88.

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) 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). Equities analysts anticipate that Lithium Americas Corp. will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lithium Americas Company Profile

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.