Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) Shares Down 0.6% – Should You Sell?

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) shares dropped 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $51.52 and last traded at $52.33. Approximately 334,286 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 4,355,487 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCJ has been the topic of several research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. National Bank Financial raised shares of 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 issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $66.56.

Cameco Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 276.28 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.27.

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 business had revenue of $721.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $646.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Cameco Co. will post 0.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a dividend of $0.118 per share. This is a positive change from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.22%. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cameco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dantai Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of Cameco by 44.2% in the third quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd now owns 57,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,735,000 after purchasing an additional 17,560 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Cameco in the 3rd quarter worth $5,305,000. Telemark Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Cameco by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Telemark Asset Management LLC now owns 1,300,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $62,088,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC bought a new stake in Cameco during the third quarter valued at about $1,680,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Cameco by 0.9% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,314,400 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,892,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600 shares during the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is currently 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.