Merit Financial Group LLC Makes New $284,000 Investment in Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ - Free Report) TSE: CCO in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,888 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cameco during the 4th quarter valued at about $188,595,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Cameco by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,639,647 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,163,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811,876 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its position in Cameco by 120.2% during the fourth quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,245,539 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $115,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,966 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Cameco by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,088,407 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $518,443,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,336 shares during the period. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Cameco by 54.2% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 3,393,233 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $174,433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193,266 shares during the period. 70.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cameco Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE CCJ traded down $0.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $66.14. 4,435,148 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,343,445. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.88. Cameco Co. has a 12-month low of $35.00 and a 12-month high of $68.12. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $49.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.79 billion, a PE ratio of 236.21 and a beta of 0.97.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ - Get Free Report) TSE: CCO last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $549.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $890.07 million. Cameco had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 4.34%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cameco Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CCJ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cameco and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Cameco in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Desjardins assumed coverage on shares of Cameco in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cameco from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Cameco in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $75.63.

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.