Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Cameco Put Options (NYSE:CCJ)

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cameco

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Cameco by 7.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 68,793 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,769,000 after acquiring an additional 4,909 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Cameco in the 3rd quarter worth about $6,152,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cameco by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 25,089 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,104,000 after purchasing an additional 6,746 shares in the last quarter. Credit Agricole S A purchased a new stake in Cameco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,505,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Cameco by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 649,742 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,487,000 after purchasing an additional 24,814 shares in the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cameco Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE CCJ opened at $84.69 on Friday. Cameco has a 1 year low of $35.00 and a 1 year high of $110.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 2.96 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $88.09 and a 200 day moving average of $74.81. The stock has a market cap of $36.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.34 and a beta of 0.98.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.17). Cameco had a net margin of 14.97% and a return on equity of 8.21%. The business had revenue of $313.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $531.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.01) EPS. Cameco’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Cameco has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cameco will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This is a positive change from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.12. This represents a yield of 25.0%. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CCJ. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Cameco from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. CLSA initiated coverage on shares of Cameco in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Cameco in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cameco in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, National Bankshares restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cameco in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $113.75.

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.