Baird Financial Group Inc. Invests $2.39 Million in Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ)

Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cameco Co. (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 46,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,390,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Cameco by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,639,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,163,942,000 after buying an additional 1,811,876 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cameco by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,784,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $862,997,000 after buying an additional 270,102 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Cameco by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 10,088,407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $518,443,000 after buying an additional 1,196,336 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cameco in the 4th quarter valued at about $188,595,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Cameco by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 3,393,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $174,433,000 after buying an additional 1,193,266 shares in the last quarter. 70.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cameco Price Performance

NYSE:CCJ opened at $50.76 on Monday. Cameco Co. has a 52 week low of $35.00 and a 52 week high of $62.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $22.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 181.29 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.90.

Cameco (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $890.07 million. Cameco had a net margin of 5.39% and a return on equity of 4.34%. Cameco’s quarterly revenue was up 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Cameco Co. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CCJ has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cameco from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Cameco in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Canada raised Cameco to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Cameco in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Desjardins started coverage on Cameco in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cameco presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $70.03.

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.