5 Best Annual Dividend Stocks To Buy Now

2. Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ)

Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders: 40

Annual Dividend Payout: $0.0946

Canadian uranium mining company Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ) grew its annual dividend payment by 51% this year to $0.0946. While the company’s dividend won’t set the world on fire with its 0.39% dividend yield, there’s room for growth given the company’s 24% payout ratio and the company has a lot going for it besides its dividend.

In October, Cameco announced the acquisition of a 49% stake in nuclear products and services company Westinghouse Electric for $2.2 billion plus debt, with partner Brookfield Renewable Partners taking on the remaining ownership stake. Given the constricted state of the energy market should provide tailwinds for both uranium and nuclear companies, it’s a move that could pay big dividends for Cameco down the line; leading to potentially bigger dividends for the company’s shareholders as well.

Hedge fund ownership of Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ) has surged by 60% over the last year, hitting an all-time high in Q1 of this year. Several funds are extremely bullish on the company, each having greater than 9% 13F exposure to the stock as of June 30. One of them is David Iben’s Kopernik Global Investors, which owns 4.19 million shares valued at over $88 million.

Aristotle Capital is bullish on Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ)’s disciplined approach to increasing its production volumes, as outlined in the fund’s Q2 2022 investor letter:

“After making a strong run in the beginning of the year, Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ), the world’s largest publicly traded uranium producer, was a primary detractor for the quarter. As countries focus on energy security and increasingly rely on nuclear energy, market dynamics are shifting in Cameco’s favor. Supply has tightened as the developed world pivots from Russia, a large supplier of uranium, while demand for non-Russia-linked uranium has increased. While we recognize there has been, and will likely continue to be, short-term volatility in uranium prices, we admire Cameco’s prior actions of operational discipline, which we believe have positioned the company to benefit from the current market dynamics. Cameco remains focused on prudently and profitably increasing production of its Canada-based assets, including an increase of its ownership stake in the Cigar Lake joint venture, as well as the planned start of production at the McArthur River/Key Lake mines in 2024. As these operations come online, we believe Cameco will be able to meet its utilities customers’ demand for long-term supply at higher equilibrium prices.”