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

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ - Get Free Report) TSE: CCO was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 384,705 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,490% compared to the typical daily volume of 24,198 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CCJ shares. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Cameco in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Cameco in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut Cameco from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Cameco in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $52.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Canada raised Cameco to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $70.03.

Cameco Trading Up 3.1 %

Cameco stock traded up $1.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $50.76. 5,164,521 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,084,523. The firm has a market cap of $22.10 billion, a PE ratio of 181.29 and a beta of 0.89. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.93. Cameco has a 12-month low of $35.00 and a 12-month high of $62.55.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cameco by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,084,358 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $703,295,000 after acquiring an additional 300,088 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Cameco by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,846,044 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $865,729,000 after acquiring an additional 190,337 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Cameco by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,088,407 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $518,443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cameco in the 4th quarter valued at $188,595,000. 70.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.