Investors Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Cameco (NYSE:CCJ)

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cameco

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Country Club Bank raised its holdings in shares of Cameco by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Country Club Bank now owns 43,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Cameco by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in Cameco by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 50,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,592,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Cameco by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. now owns 30,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,587,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Cameco by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 816 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CCJ. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Cameco in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Cameco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Canada raised shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Desjardins started coverage on shares of Cameco in a report on Friday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Glj Research increased their price objective on shares of Cameco from $62.76 to $75.68 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $70.03.

Cameco Stock Performance

Cameco stock opened at $51.33 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $35.00 and a 1-year high of $62.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 183.33 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average is $43.73 and its 200 day moving average is $48.88.

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