Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) Short Interest Up 8.6% in March

Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) saw a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,140,000 shares, an increase of 8.6% from the March 15th total of 1,050,000 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 760,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Burford Capital Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BUR traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.08. 1,156,445 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 881,431. The company has a quick ratio of 9.53, a current ratio of 9.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $15.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.27. Burford Capital has a 12-month low of $11.78 and a 12-month high of $17.70.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.02). Burford Capital had a net margin of 56.17% and a return on equity of 20.99%. The company had revenue of $292.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $142.00 million. As a group, analysts expect that Burford Capital will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Burford Capital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a $0.063 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This is an increase from Burford Capital’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.06. This represents a yield of 1.7%. Burford Capital’s payout ratio is currently 4.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Burford Capital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mithaq Capital SPC bought a new stake in shares of Burford Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $355,631,000. Invesco Ltd. bought a new stake in Burford Capital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $110,137,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Burford Capital by 36.3% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 6,135,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,890,000 after acquiring an additional 1,635,000 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Burford Capital by 4,092.2% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,031,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,405,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Burford Capital by 52.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,596,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,161,000 after purchasing an additional 890,341 shares during the period.

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.