Cameco Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CCJ)

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 28,210 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 942% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,706 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cameco

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Cameco by 37.4% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 17,068,688 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $497,555,000 after purchasing an additional 4,644,453 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Cameco by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 454,418 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,223,000 after acquiring an additional 9,757 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Cameco by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 25,154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,414 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Cameco by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 554,571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,138,000 after acquiring an additional 52,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC purchased a new stake in Cameco during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $819,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Cameco from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Cameco in a research report on Monday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.75.

Cameco Price Performance

NYSE:CCJ opened at $48.17 on Friday. Cameco has a 52 week low of $25.11 and a 52 week high of $52.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $20.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.28 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.46.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.06). Cameco had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 5.61%. The business had revenue of $620.00 million during the quarter. Equities analysts expect that Cameco will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

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.