Traders Purchase Large Volume of Cameco Call Options (NYSE:CCJ)

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 384,705 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,490% compared to the average volume of 24,198 call options.

Institutional Trading of Cameco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in Cameco by 71.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cameco during the third quarter worth $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Cameco by 84.2% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 768 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Cameco in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Cameco by 39.0% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CCJ. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Cameco from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Glj Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $63.73 price target on shares of Cameco in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cameco presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.56.

Cameco Trading Up 2.5 %

CCJ opened at $61.13 on Friday. Cameco has a 1-year low of $35.43 and a 1-year high of $61.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $54.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.60 billion, a PE ratio of 321.73 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.40). The company had revenue of $721.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $646.83 million. Cameco had a return on equity of 3.33% and a net margin of 4.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cameco will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be issued a $0.118 dividend. This is a boost from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a yield of 0.22%. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.16%.

Cameco Company Profile

Cameco Corporation provides uranium for the generation of electricity. It operates through Uranium, Fuel Services, Westinghouse segments. The Uranium segment is involved in the exploration for, mining, and milling, purchase, and sale of uranium concentrate. The Fuel Services segment engages in the refining, conversion, and fabrication of uranium concentrate, as well as the purchase and sale of conversion services.