Cameco Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CCJ)

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Cameco by 192.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $196,000 after acquiring an additional 2,291 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cameco during the fourth quarter valued at $2,358,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cameco by 132.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 994 shares during the last quarter. Myriad Asset Management US LP purchased a new position in Cameco in the 4th quarter worth about $1,444,000. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its holdings in Cameco by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 91,686 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,712,000 after buying an additional 25,643 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

Cameco Price Performance

NYSE:CCJ opened at $50.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 264.32 and a beta of 0.95. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.33. Cameco has a 1 year low of $35.43 and a 1 year high of $62.55.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.40). Cameco had a return on equity of 3.33% and a net margin of 4.15%. The firm had revenue of $721.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $646.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Cameco will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott raised Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.56.

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.