Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Cameco (NYSE:CCJ)

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cameco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CCJ. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cameco by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,160,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $204,672,000 after buying an additional 265,196 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 176,183 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Cameco by 58.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,777,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $181,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386,639 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $161,022,000 after purchasing an additional 117,722 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in Cameco by 19.9% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,478,488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $118,386,000 after purchasing an additional 410,711 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.56.

Cameco Price Performance

CCJ stock opened at $51.37 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 270.38 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.28. Cameco has a 52-week low of $35.43 and a 52-week high of $62.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last posted 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). Cameco had a return on equity of 3.33% and a net margin of 4.15%. The company had revenue of $721.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $646.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Cameco will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors 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 yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.89%.

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.