Sigma Lithium (NASDAQ:SGML) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Sigma Lithium Corporation (NASDAQ:SGML)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Bank of America upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $11.83, but opened at $12.37. Bank of America now has a $17.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $14.00. Sigma Lithium shares last traded at $13.4180, with a volume of 1,047,304 shares changing hands.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Sigma Lithium in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised Sigma Lithium from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup lowered shares of Sigma Lithium from an “overweight” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Sigma Lithium in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Sigma Lithium by 15.9% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 21,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 3,005 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sigma Lithium in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Virtu Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Sigma Lithium by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 20,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 4,210 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Sigma Lithium during the 4th quarter worth $57,000. Finally, Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Sigma Lithium by 0.4% during the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,067,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,806,000 after acquiring an additional 4,557 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.86% of the company’s stock.

Sigma Lithium Trading Up 14.8%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.73, a PEG ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Sigma Lithium (NASDAQ:SGML) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 30th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.10). Sigma Lithium had a negative net margin of 45.64% and a negative return on equity of 53.45%. The business had revenue of $16.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.20 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sigma Lithium Corporation will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

About Sigma Lithium

Sigma Lithium Corp. is a Canada-based mineral exploration and development company focused on the sustainable production of battery-grade lithium from hard rock deposits. The company’s flagship asset is the Grota do Cirilo lithium project, located in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Grota do Cirilo comprises a fully permitted, low-altitude spodumene mine and processing plant designed to produce high-purity lithium concentrate and downstream lithium hydroxide for the global electric vehicle and energy storage markets.

Since its founding in 2018, Sigma Lithium has pursued a vertically integrated approach, overseeing each stage of production from ore extraction and beneficiation to chemical conversion.