Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAR) Upgraded to “Buy” at HSBC

Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAR) was upgraded by investment analysts at HSBC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a $9.60 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $4.75. HSBC’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 17.07% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on LAR. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Scotiabank raised Lithium Americas (Argentina) from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $4.25 to $7.75 in a report on Monday, January 12th. National Bankshares lifted their price target on Lithium Americas (Argentina) from $4.75 to $6.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Lithium Americas (Argentina) from $6.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Lithium Americas (Argentina) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.30 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.44.

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:LAR traded down $0.09 during trading on Monday, reaching $8.20. 4,559,313 shares of the company traded hands. Lithium Americas has a 52 week low of $1.71 and a 52 week high of $8.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion and a PE ratio of -16.40. The company’s 50 day moving average is $5.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.20.

Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.01). As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lithium Americas will post -0.05 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lithium Americas (Argentina)

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAR. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 119.3% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,594,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,045,000 after acquiring an additional 5,219,416 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 102.1% in the third quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 4,200,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,029,000 after purchasing an additional 2,122,035 shares during the last quarter. Seldon Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,076,000. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,456,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 42.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,198,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,573,000 after buying an additional 653,351 shares during the period. 49.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Company Profile

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.