Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. Takes Position in Burford Capital Limited $BUR

Key Points

• Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. has invested approximately $32.59 million in Burford Capital Limited, making the stock about 8.4% of their portfolio and their 5th largest position.
• Burford Capital recently beat analysts’ earnings estimates, reporting an EPS of $0.39 for the quarter, along with a revenue of $191.29 million.
• Several hedge funds increased their stakes in Burford Capital, reflecting growing interest; for instance, Price T Rowe Associates boosted its holdings by 21.6%.

Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,466,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,586,000. Burford Capital accounts for approximately 8.4% of Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Contrarian Capital Management L.L.C. owned 1.12% of Burford Capital as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Burford Capital during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Burford Capital by 109.3% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 9,000 shares of the company's stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 4,700 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Burford Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $132,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Burford Capital during the first quarter worth approximately $132,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Burford Capital during the first quarter worth approximately $134,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Aviva O. Will sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,284,793.40. This represents a 5.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Jonathan Todd Molot sold 210,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 444,500 shares of company stock valued at $6,489,700 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Burford Capital in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Burford Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Burford Capital Price Performance

NYSE BUR traded up $0.24 on Monday, hitting $13.98. 1,294,438 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,371,131. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $13.49 and a 200-day moving average of $13.52. The company has a current ratio of 10.09, a quick ratio of 10.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Burford Capital Limited has a 52 week low of $10.70 and a 52 week high of $15.73. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 0.66.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $159.02 million. Analysts expect that Burford Capital Limited will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Burford Capital 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.