Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC)

Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 52,309 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 132% compared to the average daily volume of 22,521 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LAC. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lithium Americas by 149.2% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 3,550 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Lithium Americas by 1,253.3% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LAC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lithium Americas in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Lithium Americas in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Lithium Americas from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Lithium Americas to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lithium Americas from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.56.

Lithium Americas Price Performance

NYSE LAC opened at $5.22 on Thursday. Lithium Americas has a 52 week low of $2.47 and a 52 week high of $10.52. The company has a current ratio of 7.36, a quick ratio of 7.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.72 and a beta of 2.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $4.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.92.

Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $0.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.07. Analysts forecast that Lithium Americas will post -0.14 EPS for the current year.

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.