Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) Shares Up 1.4% – Time to Buy?

Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) shares traded up 1.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $90.04 and last traded at $89.4970. 1,878,908 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 4,849,634 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CCJ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Cameco to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cameco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cameco in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Glj Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $99.74 price objective on shares of Cameco in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, National Bankshares reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cameco in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.25.

Cameco Stock Up 1.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a current ratio of 2.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.07 and a beta of 1.07.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.17). Cameco had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 15.24%.The company had revenue of $313.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $531.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cameco Corporation will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a yield of 27.0%. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CCJ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cameco by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,801,142 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,493,978,000 after acquiring an additional 235,613 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Cameco by 39.3% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 14,048,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $578,226,000 after purchasing an additional 3,959,837 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Cameco by 0.8% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,503,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,133,147,000 after purchasing an additional 106,872 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Cameco by 0.7% during the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,973,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,089,080,000 after purchasing an additional 85,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Cameco by 41.4% in the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 7,076,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $524,988,000 after buying an additional 2,071,373 shares during the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.