Brokerages Set Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) Target Price at $12.00

Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.00.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BUR. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Burford Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 21st. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Burford Capital in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Burford Capital in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of Burford Capital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $4.75 price objective (down from $6.00) on shares of Burford Capital in a research note on Monday, March 30th.

Burford Capital Stock Performance

NYSE BUR opened at $4.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.54 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.95. Burford Capital has a twelve month low of $3.59 and a twelve month high of $15.10. The company has a quick ratio of 10.93, a current ratio of 10.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.54). The business had revenue of $48.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $168.30 million. Burford Capital had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 1.97%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Burford Capital will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Burford Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.0625 per share. This represents a yield of 147.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. Burford Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Institutional Trading of Burford Capital

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd grew its stake in Burford Capital by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 12,051,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,500,000 after buying an additional 2,859,722 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Burford Capital by 2.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 9,418,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,170,000 after buying an additional 229,979 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Burford Capital by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,779,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,471,000 after buying an additional 1,346,663 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Burford Capital by 34.3% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,078,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,680,000 after buying an additional 1,551,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in Burford Capital by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,194,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,335,000 after buying an additional 1,228,328 shares during the last quarter.

About Burford Capital

Burford Capital (NYSE: BUR) is a leading global finance firm that specializes in litigation and arbitration funding, risk management, and asset recovery. The company provides capital to law firms and corporate clients to finance legal fees and associated costs in commercial disputes. In exchange for funding, Burford shares in any awards or settlements, enabling clients to pursue meritorious claims without bearing upfront legal expenses.

Founded in 2009 by Christopher Bogart, Burford was among the first firms to establish a dedicated litigation finance business.