Short Interest in Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) Rises By 39.5%

Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,130,000 shares, a growth of 39.5% from the February 28th total of 2,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 914,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Burford Capital

In other Burford Capital news, CEO Christopher P. Bogart sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.61, for a total value of $1,314,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 452,185 shares in the company, valued at $6,606,422.85. This represents a 16.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Aviva O. Will sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.61, for a total transaction of $109,575.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 310,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,543,403.19. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 100,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,468,305. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUR. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Burford Capital by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 91,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,166,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Burford Capital by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 24,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Burford Capital by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 296,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in Burford Capital by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 1,272 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Burford Capital by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 20,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 1,331 shares during the last quarter.

Burford Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Burford Capital stock traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $13.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,312,496 shares, compared to its average volume of 984,631. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 15.75 and a quick ratio of 15.75. Burford Capital has a one year low of $12.07 and a one year high of $16.77. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.68.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $65.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.38 million. Burford Capital had a net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 8.07%. On average, analysts anticipate that Burford Capital will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Burford Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. Burford Capital’s payout ratio is 18.46%.

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.