BNP Paribas Decreases Holdings in Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ)

BNP Paribas trimmed its stake in shares of Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 16,377 shares during the period. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Cameco were worth $1,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Cameco by 2.1% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 9,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in shares of Cameco by 19.9% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,478,488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $118,386,000 after buying an additional 410,711 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Cameco by 9.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,175,038 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $103,968,000 after buying an additional 187,512 shares during the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Cameco in the third quarter valued at about $15,209,000. Finally, Canton Hathaway LLC raised its position in shares of Cameco by 18.0% in the third quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 9,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 1,410 shares during the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CCJ. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Cameco from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research 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 upgraded shares of Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Glj Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $63.73 target price on shares of Cameco in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cameco from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $66.56.

Cameco Price Performance

Cameco stock opened at $57.81 on Thursday. Cameco Co. has a 12-month low of $35.43 and a 12-month high of $60.98. The stock has a market cap of $25.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 304.28 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $52.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported ($0.01) earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $721.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.24 earnings per share. Cameco’s revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cameco Co. will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be given a dividend of $0.118 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. This is a boost from Cameco’s previous annual dividend of $0.09. This represents a dividend yield of 0.22%. Cameco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.37%.

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.