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

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 384,705 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,490% compared to the typical daily volume of 24,198 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $66.56.

Institutional Trading of Cameco

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Cameco in the second quarter valued at about $73,125,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Cameco by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,777,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $181,382,000 after buying an additional 1,386,639 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC bought a new stake in shares of Cameco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,227,000. Segra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cameco during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,013,000. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in Cameco by 99.7% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,680,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $80,249,000 after acquiring an additional 839,077 shares during the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cameco Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of CCJ opened at $49.46 on Friday. Cameco has a 52 week low of $35.43 and a 52 week high of $62.55. The firm has a market cap of $21.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 260.31 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.88.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (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). Cameco had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 3.33%. The business had revenue of $721.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $646.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Cameco will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a dividend of $0.118 per share. This represents a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. This is a positive change from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.16%.

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.