Clearline Capital LP Has $476,000 Stock Holdings in Burford Capital Limited $BUR

Key Points

• Clearline Capital LP significantly reduced its stake in Burford Capital Limited by 86.4%, selling 229,286 shares to hold 36,054 shares worth $476,000.
• CEO Christopher P. Bogart and CIO Jonathan Todd Molot both sold 210,000 shares each at an average price of $14.60, with Bogart's sale representing a 42.96% decrease in his ownership.
• Analysts have mixed views on Burford Capital, with Wall Street Zen downgrading the stock from "buy" to "hold," while Wedbush maintains an "outperform" rating with a target price of $18.00.

Clearline Capital LP trimmed its position in Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR - Free Report) by 86.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,054 shares of the company's stock after selling 229,286 shares during the quarter. Clearline Capital LP's holdings in Burford Capital were worth $476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,431,000 after buying an additional 67,300 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in Burford Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $273,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in Burford Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $335,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Burford Capital in the 1st quarter valued at $284,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Burford Capital by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,527,180 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,804,000 after buying an additional 34,228 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BUR. Wall Street Zen downgraded Burford Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Burford Capital in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Burford Capital currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $18.00.

Burford Capital Price Performance

Shares of BUR stock traded down $0.07 on Friday, hitting $12.93. 1,185,800 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,518,607. 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 Limited has a 12 month low of $10.70 and a 12 month high of $15.73. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.59 and a 200 day moving average of $13.38.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $191.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $159.02 million. Burford Capital had a return on equity of 7.48% and a net margin of 37.08%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Burford Capital Limited will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Burford Capital

In other Burford Capital news, CEO Christopher P. Bogart sold 210,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.60, for a total value of $3,066,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 278,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,071,385.20. This trade represents a 42.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CIO Jonathan Todd Molot sold 210,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.60, for a total value 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 $49,736,725. This represents a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 444,500 shares of company stock valued at $6,489,700 over the last three months. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

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.