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

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ - Get Free Report) TSE: CCO saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 28,210 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 942% compared to the average volume of 2,706 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Cameco from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. National Bank Financial upgraded Cameco to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Cameco to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Glj Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $63.73 price target on shares of Cameco in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cameco from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cameco currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $66.56.

Institutional Trading of Cameco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Segra Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cameco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,013,000. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its stake in Cameco by 31.5% in the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 13,853 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 3,322 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in Cameco by 108,100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 31,378 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,499,000 after purchasing an additional 31,349 shares in the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd increased its stake in Cameco by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 5,420 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Cameco in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,768,000. 70.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cameco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CCJ traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $53.57. The stock had a trading volume of 10,918,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,443,106. The firm has a market cap of $23.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 290.28 and a beta of 0.89. 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 fifty-two week low of $35.43 and a fifty-two week high of $58.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.40 and a 200-day moving average of $48.30.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ - Get Free Report) TSE: CCO last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.40). The firm had revenue of $721.00 million during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Cameco will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.118 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. This is an increase from Cameco's previous annual dividend of $0.09. This represents a yield of 0.22%. Cameco's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.37%.

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.