The month of May was kind to the Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price.
As we covered here, the lithium miner's shares rose a sizeable 7% during the month.
This compares very favourably to the 3% decline by the ASX 200 index over the same period.
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Can the Core Lithium share price build on this in June?
Unfortunately, most brokers agree that Core Lithium's shares are overvalued at current levels.
For example, Citi has a sell rating and 75 cents price target, Goldman Sachs has a sell rating and 80 cents price target, and Morgans has a hold rating and $1.05 price target.
This bearishness is largely due to the company's shares trading at a price to net asset value (NAV) that is significantly higher than peers.
Citi highlights that "CXO trades on ~1.3x P/NAV vs peers on ~0.8-0.9x P/NAV."
Goldman Sachs believes this indicates that investors are "pricing in ~US$1,600/t spodumene (peer average ~US$1,100/t)" over the long-term.
Of course, if you believe lithium prices are going to average that over the long-term, then you're probably picking up shares at a fair price now.
However, if you are that bullish and confident in lithium prices, then you perhaps should be looking at other lithium miners instead. After all, their current valuations suggest they are trading at a deep discount if long-term spodumene prices averaged US$1,600 per tonne.
There is a bull
It's not all doom and gloom, though. It is worth highlighting that analysts at Macquarie don't agree with the rest of the broker community and continue to see value in the Core Lithium share price.
A recent note reveals that the broker has an outperform rating and $1.30 price target on its shares. This implies potential upside of 20% for investors from current levels.
Time will tell which brokers make the right call.
