Traders Buy High Volume of Cameco Put Options (NYSE:CCJ)

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ - Get Free Report) TSE: CCO was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 28,210 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 942% compared to the average daily volume of 2,706 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cameco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cameco by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,911,954 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $689,306,000 after purchasing an additional 200,871 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Cameco by 2.1% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 13,711,154 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $593,967,000 after buying an additional 288,400 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Cameco by 1.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,708,235 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $593,524,000 after buying an additional 215,741 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Cameco by 3.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,514,500 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $282,210,000 after buying an additional 202,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cameco by 6.8% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,160,009 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $204,672,000 after buying an additional 265,196 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CCJ shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cameco from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. National Bank Financial raised shares of Cameco to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Cameco from $59.00 to $60.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Glj Research reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $63.73 price target on shares of Cameco in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Cameco from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cameco has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.56.

Cameco Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE CCJ traded up $1.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.02. 6,039,190 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,412,492. Cameco has a 12-month low of $35.43 and a 12-month high of $58.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 3.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $44.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.58. The firm has a market cap of $25.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.23 and a beta of 0.90.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ - Get Free Report) TSE: CCO last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $598.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $756.00 million. Cameco had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 5.63%. Cameco's quarterly revenue was up 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.01) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Cameco will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current year.

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.