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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cameco from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.56.

Cameco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CCJ traded down $3.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $40.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,569,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,120,295. Cameco has a one year low of $35.43 and a one year high of $62.55. The company has a market cap of $17.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 146.00 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $49.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.98. 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 (NYSE:CCJ - Get Free Report) TSE: CCO last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26. The company had revenue of $845.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Cameco had a return on equity of 4.34% and a net margin of 5.39%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cameco will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cameco

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CCJ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cameco in the fourth quarter worth about $188,595,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Cameco by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,639,647 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,163,942,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811,876 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Cameco by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,777,866 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $181,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386,639 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cameco in the third quarter valued at $66,227,000. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cameco by 120.2% in the fourth quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,245,539 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $115,398,000 after buying an additional 1,225,966 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.21% of the company's stock.

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.