Gold is a better bet than uranium

Article Excerpt

CAMECO CORP. $11.30 (Toronto symbol CCO; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (306-956-6200; www.cameco. com; Shares outstanding: 395.8 million; Market cap: $4.6 billion; Dividend yield 0.7%) is the world’s biggest uranium producer. It has large, high-grade reserves spread across several mining sites, but also has low-cost operations and significant market share. The company’s revenue in the latest quarter dropped 27.5%, to $486 million from $670 million a year earlier. Cash flow remains positive, but it fell 59.8%, to $154 million, or $0.39 a share, from $385 million, or $0.97. Cameco has now taken measures to offset persistently low uranium prices. It will suspend production at its McArthur River mine in Saskatchewan, the world’s biggest uranium mine, and at the Key Lake mill. Those closures will take place by the end of January 2018. The company will also cut its dividend, from $0.10 per quarter to an annual payment of $0.08. It will yield 0.7%. Uranium’s long-term outlook is positive, but supply remains much higher than demand…