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

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

Cameco Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CCJ opened at $79.94 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.81 billion, a PE ratio of 91.89 and a beta of 1.04. Cameco has a fifty-two week low of $35.00 and a fifty-two week high of $83.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.96.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.22. Cameco had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 8.21%. The company had revenue of $467.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $819.79 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 46.7% on a year-over-year basis. Cameco has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cameco will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CCJ shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Cameco in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cameco in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. CLSA started coverage on shares of Cameco in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $70.00 price target on shares of Cameco and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Glj Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $75.27 price objective on shares of Cameco in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and thirteen have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cameco currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.55.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cameco

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CCJ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Cameco by 2.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,565,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,304,504,000 after acquiring an additional 481,171 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Cameco by 39.3% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 14,048,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $578,226,000 after purchasing an additional 3,959,837 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in shares of Cameco by 41.4% in the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 2,071,373 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cameco during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $341,736,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its position in Cameco by 19.0% during the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 4,037,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $166,206,000 after buying an additional 644,413 shares during the period. 70.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.