HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 35,180 Shares of Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 617,538 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,180 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cameco were worth $29,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cameco by 84.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 768 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Cameco by 39.0% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cameco by 130.6% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Cameco by 1,360.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 1,022 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 952 shares during the period. 70.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on CCJ. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Cameco from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Glj Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $63.73 price target on shares of Cameco in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $66.56.

Cameco Stock Performance

NYSE CCJ opened at $61.13 on Friday. Cameco Co. has a fifty-two week low of $35.43 and a fifty-two week high of $61.42. The stock has a market cap of $26.60 billion, a PE ratio of 321.73 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $54.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.20.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $646.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. Cameco’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Cameco Co. will post 0.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

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

Cameco 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.