Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) Stock Price Down 3.4% - Time to Sell?

Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ - Get Free Report) TSE: CCO's share price traded down 3.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $49.78 and last traded at $49.81. 1,576,805 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 3,333,627 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Cameco to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cameco presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.56.

Cameco Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.25. 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 company has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 270.38 and a beta of 0.95.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ - Get Free Report) TSE: CCO last released 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). The firm had revenue of $721.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.83 million. Cameco had a return on equity of 3.33% and a net margin of 4.15%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cameco Co. will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Cameco Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a dividend of $0.118 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.22%. This is an increase from Cameco's previous annual dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Cameco's dividend payout ratio is presently 57.89%.

Institutional Trading of Cameco

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CCJ. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Cameco during the 4th quarter worth $206,000. Capital Market Strategies LLC boosted its position in Cameco by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC now owns 19,383 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $996,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Cameco by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 22,815 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Cameco by 1,138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 267,431 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $12,774,000 after purchasing an additional 245,831 shares during the period. Finally, Dantai Capital Ltd boosted its position in Cameco by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd now owns 57,260 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,735,000 after purchasing an additional 17,560 shares during the period. 70.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.