Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR)

Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 16,007 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 3,070% compared to the typical volume of 505 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Burford Capital by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 81,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 7,175 shares during the last quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Burford Capital by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. now owns 123,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,640,000 after acquiring an additional 24,799 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Burford Capital during the third quarter valued at about $264,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Burford Capital by 503.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 6,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Burford Capital during the third quarter valued at about $334,000.

Burford Capital Stock Up 0.6 %

BUR stock opened at $13.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 11.01, a quick ratio of 11.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Burford Capital has a 1 year low of $12.07 and a 1 year high of $16.77. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 9.64 and a beta of 0.53.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $159.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $153.00 million. Burford Capital had a net margin of 45.81% and a return on equity of 12.58%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Burford Capital will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Burford Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $0.063 per share. This represents a yield of 2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Burford Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 8.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BUR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Burford Capital in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $22.50 price target on shares of Burford Capital in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Burford Capital in a research note on Friday, September 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock.

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.