Short Interest in Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) Decreases By 5.5%

Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,030,000 shares, a decrease of 5.5% from the August 15th total of 7,440,000 shares. Approximately 3.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Burford Capital Price Performance

NYSE BUR opened at $13.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 11.01 and a current ratio of 11.01. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.36 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.09. Burford Capital has a 52-week low of $12.07 and a 52-week high of $16.77.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.10). Burford Capital had a net margin of 45.81% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $159.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $153.00 million. Analysts anticipate that Burford Capital will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Burford Capital Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Burford Capital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Burford Capital in the 1st quarter valued at about $18,108,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Burford Capital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $438,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in shares of Burford Capital by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,534,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,788,000 after purchasing an additional 207,157 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Burford Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $384,000. Finally, Aristides Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Burford Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $780,000.

Burford Capital Company Profile

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.