Orbis Allan Gray Ltd Grows Position in Burford Capital Limited $BUR

Key Points

• Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its stake in Burford Capital Limited by 10.3% during the first quarter, owning approximately 3.31% of the company worth $95.6 million.
• Burford Capital reported $0.39 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $191.29 million.
• Several analysts have given Burford Capital an average rating of "Buy" and set a target price of $18.00 per share.

Orbis Allan Gray Ltd grew its stake in shares of Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR - Free Report) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,235,504 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 677,271 shares during the quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd owned approximately 3.31% of Burford Capital worth $95,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Burford Capital by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 91,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,166,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Burford Capital during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Burford Capital by 20.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 2,214 shares in the last quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Burford Capital by 2.4% during the first quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 142,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,925,000 after acquiring an additional 3,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Burford Capital by 5.4% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 72,123 shares of the company's stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 3,668 shares in the last quarter.

Burford Capital Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:BUR traded up $0.07 on Thursday, hitting $13.27. 383,267 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,376,573. Burford Capital Limited has a 52 week low of $10.70 and a 52 week high of $15.73. The company has a quick ratio of 10.09, a current ratio of 10.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.51. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 0.66.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $159.02 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Burford Capital Limited will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CIO Jonathan Todd Molot sold 210,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 3,406,625 shares in the company, valued at $49,736,725. This trade represents 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 available through the SEC website. Also, insider David Perla sold 7,000 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 $102,200.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 80,172 shares in the company, valued at $1,170,511.20. This trade represents a 8.03% 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. Insiders own 8.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BUR shares. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Burford Capital in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered Burford Capital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $18.00.

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.