Investors Purchase High Volume of Cameco Put Options (NYSE:CCJ)

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 28,210 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 942% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,706 put options.

Cameco Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:CCJ opened at $52.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.88. Cameco has a 1 year low of $35.43 and a 1 year high of $62.55. The stock has a market cap of $22.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 276.65 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.28.

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

Cameco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a $0.118 dividend. This is an increase from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. This represents a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. Cameco’s payout ratio is presently 57.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCJ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. National Bank Financial upgraded Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cameco has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cameco by 1,138.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 267,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,774,000 after acquiring an additional 245,831 shares during the period. Dantai Capital Ltd boosted its stake in Cameco by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd now owns 57,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,735,000 after purchasing an additional 17,560 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in Cameco by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 128,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,120,000 after purchasing an additional 13,901 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Cameco by 9.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 25,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 2,142 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Cameco during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

About Cameco

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.