Lithium Americas Launches $100 Million At-The-Market Program

Lithium Americas Corp. LAC recently entered into an equity distribution agreement with TD Securities (USA) LLC and TD Securities Inc. Under this agreement, the company may sell its common shares, with no par value, for a total offering price of up to $100 million (or the equivalent in Canadian dollars) through an at-the-market (ATM) program.

Shares offered through the ATM Program will be sold via the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), or any other trading platform defined under applicable securities laws and otherwise agreed upon by the company and the agent, based on the prevailing market price at the time of sale. The timing and volume of any sales will be determined solely at the company's discretion, in line with the terms outlined in the agreement.

The TSX has conditionally approved the listing of the shares to be issued under the program, and the company has applied for approval from the NYSE for its listing as well. However, Lithium Americas is under no obligation to sell any shares under the program. The ATM Program will remain active until either all the shares authorized for issue under the program are issued and sold or the program is otherwise terminated in accordance with the distribution agreement, whichever is earlier.

LAC plans to use any net proceeds from the ATM Program, if generated, for general corporate purposes. These may include covering corporate and project-related overhead costs, funding capital expenditures, repaying debt and increasing working capital.

Shares of LAC have lost 27.3% over the past year compared with a 9.8% decline of its industry.

LAC’s Rank & Key Picks

LAC currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space include Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS, Alamos Gold Inc. AGI and Hawkins, Inc. HWKN

Carpenter Technology currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). CRS beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 11.1%. The company's shares have soared 110% in the past year. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Alamos Gold current-year earnings is pegged at $1.29 per share. AGI, carrying a Zacks Rank #1, surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters, while missing twice, with an average earnings surprise of 1.4%. The company's shares have rallied 58.1% in the past year.

Hawkins, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #2, beat the consensus estimate in one of the trailing four quarters, while missing thrice. In this time frame, it has delivered an earnings surprise of roughly 8.2%, on average. The company's shares have rallied 43.6% in the past year.

 

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