Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Cameco (NYSE:CCJ)

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 384,705 call options on the company. This is an increase of 1,490% compared to the typical daily volume of 24,198 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CCJ shares. Glj Research boosted their target price on shares of Cameco from $62.76 to $75.68 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Cameco in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Cameco in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Desjardins began coverage on Cameco in a report on Friday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Cameco from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.03.

Institutional Trading of Cameco

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CCJ. Old West Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Cameco by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 282,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,472,000 after acquiring an additional 26,584 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Cameco by 37.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,905,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $91,112,000 after purchasing an additional 517,836 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Cameco by 4.8% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,921 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Cameco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,768,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cameco by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,911,614 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $91,558,000 after buying an additional 177,551 shares during the period. 70.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cameco Trading Up 5.5 %

Shares of Cameco stock opened at $40.81 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $17.76 billion, a PE ratio of 145.74 and a beta of 1.04. Cameco has a 1 year low of $35.00 and a 1 year high of $62.55.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.26. Cameco had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 4.34%. The business had revenue of $845.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cameco will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

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.