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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Cameco Stock Up 1.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 279.59 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $54.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $646.83 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cameco Co. will post 0.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a $0.118 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. This is an increase from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. This represents a yield of 0.22%. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of Cameco in the second quarter worth approximately $73,125,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Cameco by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,777,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $181,382,000 after acquiring an additional 1,386,639 shares during the last quarter. M&G PLC purchased a new stake in Cameco in the third quarter worth $66,227,000. Segra Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cameco during the third quarter worth $53,013,000. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cameco by 99.7% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,680,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $80,249,000 after purchasing an additional 839,077 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

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.