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

Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 64,670 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 186% compared to the average daily volume of 22,573 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Cameco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on Cameco from $104.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Cameco in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings raised Cameco from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Cameco from $129.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cameco presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.68.

Cameco Price Performance

CCJ traded down $1.77 on Friday, reaching $81.46. 2,932,717 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,596,000. The stock has a market cap of $35.48 billion, a PE ratio of 138.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.17. Cameco has a twelve month low of $77.70 and a twelve month high of $135.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $94.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 2.10.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.13). Cameco had a net margin of 10.20% and a return on equity of 7.59%. The business had revenue of $573.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $579.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Cameco will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cameco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in Cameco by 11.1% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,135,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $97,284,000 after buying an additional 113,748 shares during the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA acquired a new stake in shares of Cameco in the 3rd quarter worth $1,482,000. Shelton Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cameco by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Shelton Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,027,000 after acquiring an additional 2,515 shares during the last quarter. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co raised its holdings in shares of Cameco by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co now owns 62,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,428 shares during the period. Finally, Formuepleje A S purchased a new position in shares of Cameco during the 3rd quarter worth $19,694,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

Cameco Company Profile

Cameco Corporation is a Canadian uranium company headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It is one of the world’s major suppliers of uranium, producing uranium concentrates used to generate nuclear power. The company’s operations span uranium exploration, mining, milling, refining, conversion and fuel manufacturing.

Cameco operates or has interests in uranium assets in Canada, the United States and Kazakhstan. Its Canadian portfolio includes the McArthur River and Cigar Lake mines and the Key Lake and McClean Lake milling operations in northern Saskatchewan.