Cameco Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:CCJ)

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ - Get Free Report) TSE: CCO was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 384,705 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,490% compared to the average volume of 24,198 call options.

Institutional Trading of Cameco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CCJ. Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cameco by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 22,815 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cameco by 1,138.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 267,431 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $12,774,000 after purchasing an additional 245,831 shares in the last quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd boosted its position in shares of Cameco by 44.2% in the third quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd now owns 57,260 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,735,000 after buying an additional 17,560 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Cameco by 12.2% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 128,137 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,120,000 after buying an additional 13,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Cameco by 9.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 25,396 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,213,000 after buying an additional 2,142 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.21% of the company's stock.

Cameco Price Performance

Shares of CCJ traded up $0.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $53.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,172,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,471,972. 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 50-day moving average price of $54.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.27. Cameco has a fifty-two week low of $35.43 and a fifty-two week high of $62.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 279.59 and a beta of 0.91.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ - Get Free Report) TSE: CCO last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.40). The company had revenue of $721.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $646.83 million. Cameco had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 3.33%. Cameco's quarterly revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Cameco will post 0.51 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.118 dividend. This is a positive change from Cameco's previous annual dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.22%. Cameco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Cameco to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cameco presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.56.

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.