Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.39 EPS

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.39), Zacks reports. Burford Capital had a return on equity of 7.48% and a net margin of 37.08%.The company had revenue of $174.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $136.03 million.

Burford Capital Price Performance

Burford Capital stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $8.91. 3,044,384 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,521,005. The company has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of 8.25 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 10.09, a current ratio of 10.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Burford Capital has a 1-year low of $8.76 and a 1-year high of $15.73. The business has a fifty day moving average of $11.72 and a 200 day moving average of $12.79.

Burford Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a yield of 125.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Burford Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 31.58%.

Institutional Trading of Burford Capital

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Burford Capital in the 1st quarter valued at $55,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Burford Capital by 53.6% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 6,326 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Burford Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at $277,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Burford Capital by 270.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 33,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 24,361 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Burford Capital by 40.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 36,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,000 after acquiring an additional 10,541 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on BUR. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Burford Capital in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Burford Capital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Burford Capital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, B. Riley upgraded shares of Burford Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Burford Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

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.