Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Friday.

Separately, Wedbush raised shares of Burford Capital to an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 11th.

Burford Capital Price Performance

BUR stock opened at $14.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 13.27 and a current ratio of 13.27. Burford Capital has a 52 week low of $10.70 and a 52 week high of $15.73. The firm's fifty day moving average is $13.15 and its 200 day moving average is $13.57. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.11 and a beta of 0.67.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.16). Burford Capital had a net margin of 33.41% and a return on equity of 6.41%. The business had revenue of $118.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.00 million. Research analysts predict that Burford Capital will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Burford Capital

In other Burford Capital news, President Aviva O. Will sold 17,500 shares of Burford Capital stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.60, for a total value of $255,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 293,479 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,284,793.40. The trade was a 5.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CIO Jonathan Todd Molot sold 210,000 shares of Burford Capital stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.60, for a total transaction of $3,066,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 3,406,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,736,725. This represents a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 444,500 shares of company stock worth $6,489,700. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Burford Capital

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BUR. Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Burford Capital in the first quarter worth $32,586,000. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new position in shares of Burford Capital in the first quarter worth about $24,761,000. Breach Inlet Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Burford Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $12,147,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in shares of Burford Capital by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,727,735 shares of the company's stock worth $47,529,000 after purchasing an additional 691,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orbis Allan Gray Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Burford Capital by 10.3% in the first quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 7,235,504 shares of the company's stock worth $95,581,000 after purchasing an additional 677,271 shares during the last quarter.

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.

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