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

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 28,210 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 942% compared to the typical volume of 2,706 put options.

Cameco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CCJ opened at $52.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.73 billion, a PE ratio of 121.47 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Cameco has a twelve month low of $35.43 and a twelve month high of $58.72. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.02.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.14). Cameco had a return on equity of 5.63% and a net margin of 9.72%. The business had revenue of $598.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $756.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.01) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cameco will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cameco

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC bought a new position in Cameco in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,680,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cameco by 15.5% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $868,000 after purchasing an additional 2,683 shares in the last quarter. Country Club Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cameco during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,093,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Cameco during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Cameco in the 1st quarter valued at $295,000. 70.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.