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

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 384,705 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,490% compared to the typical volume of 24,198 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cameco during the fourth quarter valued at about $188,595,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Cameco by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,639,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,163,942,000 after buying an additional 1,811,876 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Cameco by 120.2% during the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,245,539 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $115,398,000 after buying an additional 1,225,966 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Cameco by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,088,407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $518,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in Cameco by 54.2% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 3,393,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $174,433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193,266 shares during the period. 70.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CCJ shares. Stifel Canada raised Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Desjardins assumed coverage on Cameco in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cameco from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Cameco in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Cameco in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $70.03.

Cameco Stock Performance

CCJ stock opened at $40.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.76 billion, a PE ratio of 145.74 and a beta of 1.04. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $43.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.00. Cameco has a 1-year low of $35.00 and a 1-year high of $62.55.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. The business had revenue of $845.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Cameco had a return on equity of 4.34% and a net margin of 5.39%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cameco will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

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.