Essex Financial Services Inc. Reduces Holdings in Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ)

Essex Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,063 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Cameco were worth $350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cameco by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,418,564 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,087,629,000 after purchasing an additional 4,865,085 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Cameco by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,548,514 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $616,343,000 after buying an additional 236,212 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Cameco by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 13,422,754 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $581,558,000 after buying an additional 869,404 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Cameco by 5.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,752,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $307,300,000 after acquiring an additional 428,310 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cameco by 74.3% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,730,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $227,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,442,190 shares during the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CCJ. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Cameco in a research note on Monday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cameco from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.75.

Cameco Stock Performance

NYSE CCJ opened at $48.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business’s 50 day moving average is $45.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.13 and a beta of 0.92. Cameco Co. has a 12-month low of $26.15 and a 12-month high of $52.64.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The basic materials company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $620.00 million for the quarter. Cameco had a return on equity of 4.60% and a net margin of 9.28%. Research analysts expect that Cameco Co. will post 1.37 EPS for the current year.

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.