Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.56.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CCJ shares. National Bank Financial raised shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Glj Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $63.73 price target on shares of Cameco in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cameco from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Cameco from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th.

Cameco Stock Performance

Shares of Cameco stock opened at $57.81 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 304.28 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Cameco has a one year low of $35.43 and a one year high of $60.98.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.40). Cameco had a net margin of 4.15% and a return on equity of 3.33%. The firm had revenue of $721.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $646.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cameco will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be issued a $0.118 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. This is a positive change from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. This represents a dividend yield of 0.22%. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cameco

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CCJ. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in Cameco during the second quarter valued at about $73,125,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Cameco by 58.0% in the third 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 position in Cameco in the third quarter valued at about $66,227,000. Segra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cameco during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,013,000. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cameco by 99.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,680,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $80,249,000 after purchasing an additional 839,077 shares during the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.