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

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cameco

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cameco by 71.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 571 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Cameco in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Cameco by 84.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 768 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cameco by 130.6% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Cameco by 99.3% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,204 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Cameco Stock Performance

Cameco stock traded down $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $52.54. 4,049,344 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,412,563. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $48.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.19 and a beta of 0.89. Cameco has a 1 year low of $35.43 and a 1 year high of $58.72.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.40). The firm had revenue of $721.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $646.83 million. Cameco had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 5.63%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cameco will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be issued a $0.118 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. This is a boost from Cameco's previous annual dividend of $0.09. Cameco's payout ratio is 18.60%.

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.