Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Cameco Stock Performance

Shares of CCJ stock traded up $2.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $51.62. The stock had a trading volume of 6,233,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,670,748. The firm has a market cap of $22.47 billion, a PE ratio of 271.69 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.23. 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 fifty-two week low of $35.43 and a fifty-two week high of $62.55.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. Cameco’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cameco will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a dividend of $0.118 per share. This represents a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This is a positive change from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.