Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) Short Interest Update

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,520,000 shares, a decline of 7.3% from the December 15th total of 16,750,000 shares. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,180,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Cameco Price Performance

Shares of Cameco stock traded up $2.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $51.62. 6,233,489 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,670,748. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $22.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 271.69 and a beta of 0.95. Cameco has a 52 week low of $35.43 and a 52 week high of $62.55.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.40). Cameco had a return on equity of 3.33% and a net margin of 4.15%. The firm had revenue of $721.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $646.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Cameco will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were paid a $0.118 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.22%. This is a boost from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. Cameco’s payout ratio is 63.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cameco

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in Cameco by 71.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cameco in the third quarter valued at $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cameco by 84.2% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 768 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Cameco during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Cameco by 48.6% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 816 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.56.

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.