Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAR) Trading Down 8% – Here’s What Happened

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. (NYSE:LAR) shares were down 8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $7.66 and last traded at $7.77. Approximately 1,627,574 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 4,271,226 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LAR shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $4.25 to $7.75 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. HSBC raised shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $4.75 to $9.60 in a report on Monday, January 19th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Lithium Americas (Argentina) from $6.00 to $8.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Lithium Americas (Argentina) to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lithium Americas (Argentina) currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.44.

Lithium Americas (Argentina) Stock Down 6.6%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion and a P/E ratio of -15.78.

Lithium Americas (Argentina) (NYSE:LAR) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 expect that Lithium Americas will post -0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lithium Americas (Argentina)

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada bought a new position in Lithium Americas (Argentina) in the 1st quarter valued at $572,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) during the 1st quarter worth $1,064,000. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) during the 1st quarter worth $3,456,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) by 23.8% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 342,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $712,000 after buying an additional 65,783 shares during the period. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lithium Americas (Argentina) in the second quarter valued at about $41,000. 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.