Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) Trading 1.6% Higher – Still a Buy?

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) shares shot up 1.6% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $52.79 and last traded at $52.20. 1,380,004 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 4,334,421 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.39.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $66.56.

Cameco Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $22.54 billion, a PE ratio of 272.59 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.88. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.24.

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). Cameco had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 3.33%. The company 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 firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cameco Co. will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Cameco

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dantai Capital Ltd increased its position in Cameco by 44.2% in the third quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd now owns 57,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,735,000 after purchasing an additional 17,560 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cameco during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,305,000. Telemark Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cameco by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Telemark Asset Management LLC now owns 1,300,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,088,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC purchased a new position in Cameco in the third quarter worth about $1,680,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Cameco by 1,138.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 267,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,774,000 after acquiring an additional 245,831 shares during the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.