Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Cameco (NYSE:CCJ)

Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders 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.

Institutional Trading of Cameco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CCJ. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cameco during the 4th quarter valued at about $443,265,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Cameco by 116.7% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,622,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $388,068,000 after acquiring an additional 2,489,207 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of Cameco by 41.4% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 7,076,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $524,988,000 after acquiring an additional 2,071,373 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Cameco by 7,481.3% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,752,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $160,343,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,454 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Cameco by 43.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,443,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $456,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644,061 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Cameco from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cameco in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Cameco in a research report on Monday, November 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cameco from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Glj Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $171.20 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Cameco in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.03.

Cameco Stock Down 1.3%

CCJ stock opened at $118.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $111.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.46. Cameco has a 1-year low of $35.00 and a 1-year high of $135.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.80 and a beta of 0.99.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $874.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.13 million. Cameco had a net margin of 17.00% and a return on equity of 9.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Cameco will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cameco Company Profile

Cameco Corporation (NYSE: CCJ) is a leading producer of uranium and a supplier to the global nuclear power industry. Headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, the company is engaged in the exploration, mining, milling and sale of uranium concentrate, commonly known as yellowcake, which is used as fuel for nuclear reactors. Cameco also participates in services and activities that support the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle, including processing and marketing of uranium to utilities under long‑term and spot contracts.

The company’s operations have historically centered in Canada and the United States, where it operates and develops uranium mining and processing properties.