Cameco Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CCJ)

Key Points

• Traders purchased a remarkable 384,705 call options for Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ), indicating a 1,490% increase from typical trading volumes.
• Institutional investors hold 70.21% of Cameco's stock, with notable increases in positions by companies such as Envestnet Asset Management and Raymond James Financial.
• Cameco reported $0.51 earnings per share in its last quarter, exceeding expectations and reflecting a 46.7% year-on-year revenue increase.

Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ - Get Free Report) TSE: CCO saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders bought 384,705 call options on the stock. Thisisanincreaseof1,490% compared to the typical daily volume of 24,198 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cameco

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cameco by 2.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,565,529 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,304,504,000 after buying an additional 481,171 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Cameco by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,846,044 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $865,729,000 after buying an additional 190,337 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Cameco by 39.3% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 14,048,244 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $578,226,000 after acquiring an additional 3,959,837 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in Cameco by 41.4% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 2,071,373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cameco during the 2nd quarter worth about $341,736,000. 70.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cameco Price Performance

NYSE CCJ traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $75.51. The stock had a trading volume of 2,661,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,244,133. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.09. The company has a market cap of $32.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.79 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Cameco has a 52-week low of $35.00 and a 52-week high of $80.32.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ - Get Free Report) TSE: CCO last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.22. Cameco had a return on equity of 8.21% and a net margin of 14.97%. The company had revenue of $467.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $819.79 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 46.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Cameco will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on CCJ shares. Glj Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $75.27 price objective on shares of Cameco in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Cameco from $65.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Cameco in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Cameco from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Cameco in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.65.

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.