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

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 28,210 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 942% compared to the typical volume of 2,706 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CCJ. Glj Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $63.73 price objective on shares of Cameco in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. National Bank Financial upgraded Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Cameco from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $66.56.

Cameco Stock Performance

CCJ opened at $57.81 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $35.43 and a 12-month high of $60.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.16 billion, a PE ratio of 304.28 and a beta of 0.89.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last posted 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 business had revenue of $721.00 million for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Cameco will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be issued a $0.118 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 47.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cameco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Cameco by 15.5% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $868,000 after buying an additional 2,683 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cameco during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Beck Bode LLC grew its position in shares of Cameco by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 46,681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,022,000 after acquiring an additional 4,689 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Cameco by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 124,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,338,000 after purchasing an additional 22,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hamilton Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Cameco by 76.3% in the 1st quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC now owns 8,978 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 3,886 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.