Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) Trading 4.1% Higher – Time to Buy?

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) shares were up 4.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $51.38 and last traded at $51.54. Approximately 1,442,103 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 3,286,416 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.51.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Cameco Stock Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 271.69 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $54.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.24.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last released 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 company had revenue of $721.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Cameco Co. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a dividend of $0.118 per share. This represents a yield of 0.22%. This is a boost from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Cameco by 58.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,386,639 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC acquired a new position in Cameco during the 3rd quarter worth about $66,227,000. Segra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cameco in the third quarter worth about $53,013,000. Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cameco by 99.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,680,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $80,249,000 after buying an additional 839,077 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Cameco by 44.7% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,151,105 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $102,737,000 after purchasing an additional 664,828 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.