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

Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 384,705 call options on the company. This is an increase of 1,490% compared to the typical volume of 24,198 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cameco by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,059,335 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,653,639,000 after purchasing an additional 258,193 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Cameco by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,545,354 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,240,047,000 after buying an additional 41,430 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Cameco by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,973,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,089,080,000 after buying an additional 85,762 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,071,373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Cameco by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,292,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $575,771,000 after acquiring an additional 849,188 shares during the period. 70.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cameco Price Performance

Shares of CCJ opened at $118.15 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.46. Cameco has a 52-week low of $35.00 and a 52-week high of $135.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.46 billion, a PE ratio of 121.80 and a beta of 0.99.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $874.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.13 million. Cameco had a net margin of 17.00% and a return on equity of 9.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Cameco will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CCJ shares. Glj Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $171.20 price objective (up from $100.00) on shares of Cameco in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research cut Cameco from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings raised Cameco from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Cameco in a research report on Monday, November 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Finally, National Bank Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cameco in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.03.

About Cameco

Cameco Corporation (NYSE: CCJ) is a leading producer of uranium and a supplier to the global nuclear power industry. Headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, the company is engaged in the exploration, mining, milling and sale of uranium concentrate, commonly known as yellowcake, which is used as fuel for nuclear reactors. Cameco also participates in services and activities that support the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle, including processing and marketing of uranium to utilities under long‑term and spot contracts.

The company’s operations have historically centered in Canada and the United States, where it operates and develops uranium mining and processing properties.