Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,450,000 shares, a growth of 6.3% from the August 15th total of 15,470,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Cameco Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:CCJ traded down $0.18 on Wednesday, reaching $40.12. The stock had a trading volume of 2,259,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,318,571. Cameco has a 12-month low of $35.18 and a 12-month high of $56.24. The company has a market cap of $17.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.87 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 1.48.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.14). Cameco had a return on equity of 5.63% and a net margin of 9.72%. The business had revenue of $598.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $756.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Cameco will post 0.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CCJ. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Cameco from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Cameco from $59.00 to $60.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Glj Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $63.73 price objective on shares of Cameco in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. National Bank Financial raised shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Cameco from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cameco currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CCJ. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Cameco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Cameco by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 504,348 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cameco during the 4th quarter worth about $685,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Cameco by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 10,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Cameco by 136.8% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 51,327 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,212,000 after buying an additional 29,650 shares in the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.