ASX 200 lithium shares have been popular with ASX investors for a few years now. And Liontown Resources Ltd (ASX: LTR) shares are no different.
This is a share that gave investors close to a 300% gain in 2020, and another 390% rise in 2021, after all:
Sadly, 2022 saw Liontown retreat by around 20%. But given the performance of the previous two years, there's probably not a lot of sympathy out there for this pullback.
So that's 2020, 2021 and 2022 covered. But what about 2023? How has Liontown done this year to date? To answer that, let's analyse how much an investor would have today if they ploughed $1,000 into Liontown shares at the start of 2023.
Let's begin then. So Liontown shares ended 2022 at $1.32 each. On the first trading day of 2023, the company closed at $1.23 a share. If we use the latter price, a $1,000 investment at the start of the year would have netted a prospective buyer 813 Liontown shares.
How much are 813 Liontown shares worth today?
Today, Liontown is training at $2.70 a share at the time of writing, down 0.55% for the day so far. This means that Liontown share price has risen a whopping 120% or so in 2023 from that starting price of $1.23.
Therefore, those 813 shares that our hypothetical investor bought at the start of the year would have a value of $2,195.10 right now. Not a bad return for just over four months of waiting.
Liontown doesn't pay its investors dividends right now though, so all of the gains investors have enjoyed from the company this year come from that capital appreciation alone. Even so, this company has certainly netted investors a tidy return in 2023 thus far.
That's especially the case compared with other lithium shares. By comparison, popular ASX lithium stock Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) is currently looking at a year-to-date gain of just 4.4%.
Investors probably have one event to thank in particular for this stellar performance. Back in late March, it was revealed that the US lithium share Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) had lobbed a $2.50 per share takeover offer for the company. Even though Liontown rejected this offer out of the gate, this news saw the Liotnown share price rocket an extraordinary 60% or so.
We haven't heard much more in terms of takeover news out of Liotown or Albemarle since, although Albemarle has continued to buy up more Liontown shares. But investors have clearly taken a valuation guide from this offer, which persists today.
So, all in all, Liontown Resources shares have been impressive winners for ASX investors over 2023 so far. Let's see what the rest of the year has in stock for this ASX 200 lithium share.
