Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $51.71, but opened at $53.38. Cameco shares last traded at $53.92, with a volume of 2,254,624 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CCJ shares. Scotiabank reduced their price target on 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 raised Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Cameco from $59.00 to $60.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Cameco from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cameco has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.56.

Cameco Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $23.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.49 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 3.22.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $598.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $756.00 million. Cameco had a return on equity of 5.63% and a net margin of 9.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Cameco Co. will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Cameco

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Cameco during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Cameco by 99.3% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cameco during the 1st quarter valued at $87,000. Finally, BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of Cameco during the 1st quarter valued at $93,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.21% of the company’s stock.

About Cameco

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.