Lithium Americas (Argentina) Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:LAR)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. (NYSE:LAR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 6,981 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 188% compared to the average volume of 2,428 call options.

Institutional Trading of Lithium Americas (Argentina)

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 345,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,928,000 after purchasing an additional 5,555 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 10,176 shares during the period. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new stake in Lithium Americas (Argentina) during the third quarter worth $189,000. Seldon Capital LP acquired a new stake in Lithium Americas (Argentina) in the third quarter valued at about $6,076,000. Finally, SIH Partners LLLP acquired a new stake in Lithium Americas (Argentina) in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on LAR shares. National Bankshares increased their target price on Lithium Americas (Argentina) from $4.75 to $6.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) from $6.00 to $8.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.30 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Lithium Americas (Argentina) from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $4.25 to $7.75 in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.01.

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Stock Performance

Shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) stock traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $8.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,537,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,457,033. Lithium Americas has a twelve month low of $1.71 and a twelve month high of $8.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $5.27 and a 200-day moving average of $4.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.24.

Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.01). On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lithium Americas will post -0.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Lithium Americas (Argentina)

Lithium Americas (Argentina) is a subsidiary of Lithium Americas Corp. focused on the exploration, development and production of lithium brine resources in the Jujuy province of northwest Argentina. The company’s principal asset is the Cauchari-Olaroz project, situated within the Lithium Triangle, one of the world’s richest regions for lithium-bearing brines. Through its Argentine operations, Lithium Americas aims to supply battery-grade lithium carbonate critical to electric vehicle and energy-storage markets.

The Cauchari-Olaroz project encompasses concessions on the Salar de Cauchari and Salar de Olaroz salt flats, where detailed drilling programs and pilot‐scale evaporation ponds have demonstrated favorable lithium concentrations.