Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) Shares Up 2.3% – Here’s Why

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO)’s stock price traded up 2.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $59.12 and last traded at $58.94. 1,337,024 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 4,441,935 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCJ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Glj Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $63.73 price target on shares of Cameco in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. National Bank Financial upgraded Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Cameco from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Cameco from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.56.

Cameco Trading Down 1.3 %

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 firm has a market cap of $26.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 316.49 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.62.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.40). The company had revenue of $721.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.83 million. Cameco had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 3.33%. The company’s revenue was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Cameco Co. will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be given a dividend of $0.118 per share. This represents a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. This is a positive change from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.37%.

Institutional Trading of Cameco

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CCJ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cameco by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,911,954 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $689,306,000 after purchasing an additional 200,871 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Cameco by 3.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,514,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $282,210,000 after acquiring an additional 202,157 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cameco by 6.8% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,160,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $204,672,000 after acquiring an additional 265,196 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cameco by 4.7% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 3,915,086 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $192,622,000 after acquiring an additional 176,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Cameco by 58.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,777,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $181,382,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386,639 shares in the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.