Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $117.2486.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CCJ shares. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cameco in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. President Capital raised shares of Cameco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Cameco to $150.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Cameco in a research note on Monday, November 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Cameco from $160.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 13th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cameco

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCJ. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cameco in the 2nd quarter valued at $341,736,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased 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 during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Cameco by 116.7% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,622,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $388,068,000 after purchasing an additional 2,489,207 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in Cameco by 41.4% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 2,071,373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Cameco by 43.3% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,443,807 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $456,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644,061 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

Cameco Stock Up 1.9%

CCJ stock opened at $91.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.67 and a beta of 1.07. Cameco has a fifty-two week low of $35.00 and a fifty-two week high of $110.15. The business has a 50-day moving average of $90.43 and a 200-day moving average of $81.56.

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

Cameco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This is a positive change from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.12. This represents a dividend yield of 27.0%. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.77%.

Cameco Company Profile

Cameco Corporation (NYSE: CCJ) is a leading producer of uranium and a supplier to the global nuclear power industry. Headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, the company is engaged in the exploration, mining, milling and sale of uranium concentrate, commonly known as yellowcake, which is used as fuel for nuclear reactors. Cameco also participates in services and activities that support the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle, including processing and marketing of uranium to utilities under long‑term and spot contracts.

The company’s operations have historically centered in Canada and the United States, where it operates and develops uranium mining and processing properties.