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

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 384,705 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,490% compared to the typical volume of 24,198 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cameco by 10.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,918 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Cameco by 1.7% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 17,598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Cameco by 39.0% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd grew its position in Cameco by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 1,222,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,137,000 after purchasing an additional 125,000 shares during the period. Finally, Dantai Capital Ltd raised its stake in shares of Cameco by 36.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd now owns 39,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after buying an additional 10,700 shares during the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cameco Price Performance

Shares of CCJ stock opened at $52.91 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $55.49 and its 200 day moving average is $49.33. Cameco has a 1-year low of $35.43 and a 1-year high of $62.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $23.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 278.49 and a beta of 0.91.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.40). Cameco had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 3.33%. The firm had revenue of $721.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $646.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Cameco will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a dividend of $0.118 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This is a positive change from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCJ has been the topic of several research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cameco currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $66.56.

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.