Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) Stock Price Down 1.3% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) fell 1.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $4.50 and last traded at $4.73. 16,709,234 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 2% from the average session volume of 16,303,675 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LAC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Lithium Americas from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Cowen downgraded Lithium Americas from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Scotiabank upgraded Lithium Americas from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Lithium Americas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lithium Americas in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lithium Americas has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.33.

Lithium Americas Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 3.77 and a quick ratio of 9.88. The company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.50 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.87.

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.03. As a group, analysts predict that Lithium Americas Corp. will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Alexi Illya Zawadzki sold 353,914 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.48, for a total value of $3,355,104.72. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 40,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,247.40. This represents a 89.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Edward Grandy sold 6,183 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.50, for a total transaction of $27,823.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 135,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $609,597. The trade was a 4.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 364,860 shares of company stock valued at $3,404,362. 1.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Lithium Americas by 158.1% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,479,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,679,000 after buying an additional 8,868,971 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Lithium Americas by 1,188.3% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,307,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,885,000 after acquiring an additional 3,050,405 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Lithium Americas by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,755,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,350,000 after acquiring an additional 45,941 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Lithium Americas by 44.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,405,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,736,000 after acquiring an additional 739,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Old West Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lithium Americas during the third quarter worth about $7,647,000.

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.