Cameco Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CCJ)

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders purchased 384,705 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,490% compared to the average daily volume of 24,198 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CCJ. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cameco in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in Cameco by 71.5% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Cameco by 84.2% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 768 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cameco by 130.6% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Cameco by 99.3% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cameco from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. National Bank Financial upgraded Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Glj Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $63.73 price target on shares of Cameco in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Cameco from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cameco currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.56.

Cameco Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of CCJ opened at $52.54 on Friday. Cameco has a one year low of $35.43 and a one year high of $58.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.19 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 3.22.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.40). Cameco had a return on equity of 5.63% and a net margin of 9.72%. The firm had revenue of $721.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. Cameco’s revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Cameco will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.118 per share. This is an increase from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a yield of 0.22%. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio is 18.60%.

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.