Alliancebernstein L.P. Acquires 1,196,336 Shares of Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ)

Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,088,407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,196,336 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 2.32% of Cameco worth $518,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cameco by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,784,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $862,997,000 after purchasing an additional 270,102 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cameco during the fourth quarter valued at about $188,595,000. AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Cameco by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 3,393,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $174,433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193,266 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Cameco by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,590,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $133,151,000 after acquiring an additional 685,145 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Cameco by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,156,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $110,821,000 after purchasing an additional 32,825 shares during the period. 70.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CCJ shares. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Cameco in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cameco from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Glj Research upped their price objective on Cameco from $62.76 to $75.68 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Cameco in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $73.64.

Cameco Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE CCJ opened at $41.83 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Cameco Co. has a one year low of $35.43 and a one year high of $62.55. The firm has a market cap of $18.21 billion, a PE ratio of 149.40 and a beta of 1.04.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. Cameco had a return on equity of 4.34% and a net margin of 5.39%. The company had revenue of $845.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cameco Co. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.