Cameco Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CCJ)

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 28,210 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 942% compared to the average volume of 2,706 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Cameco Stock Performance

Shares of CCJ opened at $57.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 304.28 and a beta of 0.89. Cameco has a 52-week low of $35.43 and a 52-week high of $60.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $53.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.88.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $646.83 million. Cameco had a return on equity of 3.33% and a net margin of 4.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. Research analysts predict that Cameco will post 0.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Cameco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Cameco by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $868,000 after buying an additional 2,683 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cameco during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Beck Bode LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cameco by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 46,681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,022,000 after acquiring an additional 4,689 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Cameco by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 124,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,338,000 after purchasing an additional 22,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hamilton Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Cameco by 76.3% during the 1st quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC now owns 8,978 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 3,886 shares during the period. 70.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.