Wedbush Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR)

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Wedbush in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 34.43% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Burford Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th.

Burford Capital Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of BUR stock opened at $13.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 10.09 and a current ratio of 10.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $13.16 and its 200-day moving average is $13.58. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.65. Burford Capital has a 52-week low of $10.70 and a 52-week high of $15.73.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $191.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $159.02 million. Burford Capital had a net margin of 37.08% and a return on equity of 7.48%. Sell-side analysts predict that Burford Capital will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Burford Capital

In related news, CIO Jonathan Todd Molot sold 210,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.60, for a total value of $3,066,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive owned 3,406,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,736,725. This represents a 5.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Aviva O. Will sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.60, for a total transaction of $255,500.00. Following the transaction, the president owned 293,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,284,793.40. The trade was a 5.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 444,500 shares of company stock worth $6,489,700 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd grew its position in shares of Burford Capital by 149.9% during the 4th quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 112,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 67,300 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Burford Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $273,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of Burford Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $335,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Burford Capital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $284,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Burford Capital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,312,000.

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.