Burford Capital's (BUR) "Outperform" Rating Reaffirmed at Wedbush

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.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating restated by stock analysts at Wedbush in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $18.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 30.86% from the stock's current price.

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded Burford Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday.

Burford Capital Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BUR traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $13.76. 281,605 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,355,896. Burford Capital has a 52 week low of $10.70 and a 52 week high of $15.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 10.09 and a quick ratio of 10.09.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.06. Burford Capital had a return on equity of 7.48% and a net margin of 37.08%. The firm had revenue of $191.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $159.02 million. Analysts predict that Burford Capital will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Burford Capital news, insider David Perla sold 7,000 shares of Burford Capital stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.60, for a total transaction of $102,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 80,172 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,170,511.20. This trade represents a 8.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan Todd Molot sold 210,000 shares of Burford Capital stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive directly owned 3,406,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,736,725. This trade represents a 5.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 444,500 shares of company stock worth $6,489,700 over the last ninety days. 8.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Burford Capital

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd raised its stake in Burford Capital by 149.9% in the 4th quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 112,200 shares of the company's stock worth $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 67,300 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in Burford Capital during the fourth quarter worth $273,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in Burford Capital during the fourth quarter worth $335,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Burford Capital during the 1st quarter valued at about $284,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Burford Capital during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,312,000.

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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