Cameco Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:CCJ)

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 28,210 put options on the company. This is an increase of 942% compared to the typical volume of 2,706 put options.

Institutional Trading of Cameco

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cameco by 98.6% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 91,767 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,716,000 after acquiring an additional 45,549 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Cameco by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,077 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. bought a new stake in Cameco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $312,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its holdings in Cameco by 149.0% in the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 11,936 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 7,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in Cameco in the fourth quarter worth approximately $349,000. 70.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cameco Stock Down 2.2%

CCJ stock opened at $59.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.73 billion, a PE ratio of 211.11 and a beta of 0.89. Cameco has a 1-year low of $35.00 and a 1-year high of $62.55. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.12.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.07). Cameco had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 4.34%. The firm had revenue of $549.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $890.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cameco will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Cameco in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Cameco in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Cameco in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cameco in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Cameco in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $70.53.

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.