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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CCJ. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Cameco from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cameco from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Glj Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $63.73 price target on shares of Cameco in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $66.56.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cameco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Cameco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $73,125,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in 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 valued at $181,382,000 after buying an additional 1,386,639 shares during the last quarter. M&G PLC bought a new stake in Cameco in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $66,227,000. Fred Alger Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cameco by 99.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,680,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $80,249,000 after acquiring an additional 839,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Cameco in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,131,000. 70.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cameco Trading Up 0.9 %

CCJ traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $53.57. 10,918,419 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,443,106. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 290.28 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.30. Cameco has a one year low of $35.43 and a one year high of $58.72.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.40). The firm had revenue of $721.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.83 million. Cameco had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 3.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Cameco will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a $0.118 dividend. This represents a yield of 0.22%. This is a boost from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. Cameco’s payout ratio is presently 47.37%.

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.