Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Burford Capital received upgrades from Wall Street Zen to a "buy" rating and from Wedbush to an "outperform" rating, with a price target set at $18.00.
• The company reported Q1 earnings of $0.14 per share, missing expectations by $0.16, with revenues significantly lower than the analyst consensus.
• Insider trading activity included significant sales by executives, totaling 444,500 shares valued at approximately $6.49 million over the last ninety days.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

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

Burford Capital Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of NYSE:BUR opened at $12.42 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $13.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35 and a beta of 0.66. Burford Capital has a 52-week low of $10.70 and a 52-week high of $15.73. 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 (NYSE:BUR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $118.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.00 million. Burford Capital had a return on equity of 6.41% and a net margin of 33.41%. Analysts expect that Burford Capital will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David Perla sold 7,000 shares of the business's 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 $102,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,170,511.20. The trade was a 8.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CIO Jonathan Todd Molot sold 210,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the executive owned 3,406,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,736,725. The trade was a 5.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 444,500 shares of company stock worth $6,489,700. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Burford Capital

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd raised its position in shares of Burford Capital by 149.9% during the 4th quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 112,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 67,300 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in Burford Capital in the 4th quarter worth $273,000. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Burford Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,229,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in Burford Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $335,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Burford Capital in the first quarter valued at about $284,000.

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.

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