Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR)

Key Points

• Wedbush has reaffirmed an "Outperform" rating for Burford Capital, setting a price target of $18.00, suggesting a potential 30.86% upside from its current price.
• Burford Capital's shares recently traded down to $13.76, with a trading volume significantly lower than its average, amidst a 52-week range of $10.70 to $15.73.
• Insiders, including CIO Jonathan Todd Molot, have sold a total of 444,500 shares of Burford Capital in recent months, representing a notable decrease in their holdings.

Wedbush reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR - Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $18.00 price objective on the stock.

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded Burford Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Burford Capital currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $18.00.

Burford Capital Stock Up 1.1%

BUR traded up $0.1450 during trading on Thursday, hitting $13.7550. 789,301 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,371,892. Burford Capital has a fifty-two week low of $10.70 and a fifty-two week high of $15.73. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.65. The business's 50 day moving average is $13.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.56. 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 (NYSE:BUR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $191.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.02 million. Burford Capital had a net margin of 37.08% and a return on equity of 7.48%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Burford Capital will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CIO Jonathan Todd Molot sold 210,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.60, for a total transaction of $3,066,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 3,406,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $49,736,725. The trade was a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher P. Bogart sold 210,000 shares of the company'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 chief executive officer directly owned 278,862 shares in the company, valued at $4,071,385.20. This trade represents a 42.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 444,500 shares of company stock worth $6,489,700 over the last quarter. 8.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Burford Capital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Burford Capital by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 76,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 2,307 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Burford Capital by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,429,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,243,000 after acquiring an additional 63,346 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Burford Capital by 96.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 549,355 shares of the company's stock worth $7,004,000 after acquiring an additional 269,928 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Burford Capital by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 117,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 25,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Burford Capital by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 24,888 shares of the company's stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares in the last quarter.

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.