Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) Short Interest Update

Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,980,000 shares, a decrease of 17.5% from the September 15th total of 7,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 654,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.1 days. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Burford Capital Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of BUR stock opened at $13.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 11.01, a current ratio of 11.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Burford Capital has a fifty-two week low of $12.07 and a fifty-two week high of $16.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.90.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.10). Burford Capital had a net margin of 45.81% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The business had revenue of $159.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $153.00 million. On average, analysts forecast that Burford Capital will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Burford Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.063 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Burford Capital’s payout ratio is currently 8.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Burford Capital by 367.7% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,753,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,077,000 after buying an additional 4,523,087 shares during the period. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in Burford Capital in the 1st quarter worth about $18,108,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Burford Capital by 4,376.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,039,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,563,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016,082 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of Burford Capital by 112.7% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,327,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,845,000 after acquiring an additional 703,518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Burford Capital by 57.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,050,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,712,000 after purchasing an additional 383,577 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BUR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Burford Capital in a report on Friday, August 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Burford Capital in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $22.50 price objective on shares of Burford Capital in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd.

About Burford Capital

Burford Capital Limited provides legal finance products and services worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Capital Provision, and Asset Management and Other Provision. The Capital Provision segment provides capital to the legal industry or in connection with legal matters directly and through investment in private funds; legal risk management services; lower risk legal finance business focusing on pre-settlement litigation matters with lower risk and lower expected returns; post-settlement finance; and complex strategies in which it acts as a principal and acquires assets that are mispriced.