Cameco Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CCJ)

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 28,210 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 942% compared to the average daily volume of 2,706 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cameco by 7.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 208,184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,243,000 after purchasing an additional 13,588 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Cameco by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 9,838 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Cameco by 285.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 71,774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,530,000 after buying an additional 53,144 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cameco in the second quarter valued at approximately $332,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cameco by 445.8% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $146,000 after acquiring an additional 2,630 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

Cameco Stock Performance

Cameco stock opened at $56.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 295.24 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Cameco has a fifty-two week low of $35.43 and a fifty-two week high of $62.55.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 3.33%. The company had revenue of $721.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $646.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cameco will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Cameco’s payout ratio 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.