Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) Trading Up 2.3% – Should You Buy?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Cameco Stock Up 5.6 %

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $50.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.54. The stock has a market cap of $26.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 310.23 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.88.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Cameco had a return on equity of 3.33% and a net margin of 4.15%. The firm had revenue of $721.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $646.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Cameco Co. will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be given a $0.118 dividend. This is a boost from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.22%. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cameco by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,911,954 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $689,306,000 after acquiring an additional 200,871 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Cameco by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,708,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $593,524,000 after purchasing an additional 215,741 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Cameco by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,514,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $282,210,000 after purchasing an additional 202,157 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cameco by 6.8% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,160,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $204,672,000 after buying an additional 265,196 shares during the period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Cameco by 4.7% in the 2nd 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. 70.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.