Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) Trading Up 2.6% – Here’s Why

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) shares traded up 2.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $43.01 and last traded at $42.89. 905,892 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 4,105,709 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Glj Research boosted their price objective on shares of Cameco from $62.76 to $75.68 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Cameco in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Canada raised shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Cameco in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cameco from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cameco currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $73.64.

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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $47.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.96. The company has a market capitalization of $18.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 151.55 and a beta of 1.04.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. The company had revenue of $845.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. Cameco had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 4.34%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cameco Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CCJ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cameco in the 4th quarter valued at about $188,595,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in Cameco by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,639,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,163,942,000 after buying an additional 1,811,876 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Cameco by 120.2% in the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,245,539 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $115,398,000 after buying an additional 1,225,966 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Cameco by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,088,407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $518,443,000 after buying an additional 1,196,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in Cameco by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 3,393,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $174,433,000 after buying an additional 1,193,266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

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.