Cameco Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:CCJ)

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 28,210 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 942% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,706 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CCJ. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. National Bank Financial raised Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Cameco by 6.8% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,160,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $204,672,000 after purchasing an additional 265,196 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cameco by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 3,915,086 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $192,622,000 after purchasing an additional 176,183 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Cameco by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,777,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $181,382,000 after buying an additional 1,386,639 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cameco by 3.7% in the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 3,272,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $161,022,000 after buying an additional 117,722 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Cameco by 16.9% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,634,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $129,540,000 after buying an additional 381,176 shares during the period. 70.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cameco Trading Down 0.1 %

Cameco stock opened at $52.49 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $55.30 and its 200-day moving average is $49.27. The company has a market cap of $22.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 276.28 and a beta of 0.91.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Cameco will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a dividend of $0.118 per share. This represents a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. This is a positive change from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. Cameco’s payout ratio is 57.89%.

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.