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

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 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.

Cameco Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CCJ opened at $52.16 on Friday. 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 has a 52-week low of $35.43 and a 52-week high of $62.55. The stock has a market cap of $22.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 274.54 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $54.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.26.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.40). The business 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 business’s revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a dividend of $0.118 per share. 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 (DPR) is currently 57.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott raised Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $66.56.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cameco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CCJ. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cameco by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 77,053 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,791,000 after purchasing an additional 7,547 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new position in Cameco in the second quarter valued at $306,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Cameco by 17.8% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,669,223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $82,110,000 after acquiring an additional 252,747 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Cameco by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,634,371 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $129,540,000 after acquiring an additional 381,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. grew its position in shares of Cameco by 41.7% during the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 8,216 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 2,416 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

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.