Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Cameco Call Options (NYSE:CCJ)

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCJ has been the subject of several research reports. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cameco has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $66.56.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cameco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCJ. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cameco by 1,138.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 267,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,774,000 after acquiring an additional 245,831 shares during the last quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd grew its holdings in Cameco by 44.2% during the third quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd now owns 57,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,735,000 after purchasing an additional 17,560 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Cameco by 12.2% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 128,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,120,000 after purchasing an additional 13,901 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Cameco by 9.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 25,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 2,142 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Cameco during the third quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

Cameco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCJ opened at $52.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 276.01 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Cameco has a 1-year low of $35.43 and a 1-year high of $62.55. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.32.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.40). Cameco had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 3.33%. The business had revenue of $721.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Cameco will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a dividend of $0.118 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This is a boost from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. This represents a dividend yield of 0.22%. 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.