Short Interest in Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) Increases By 39.5%

Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,130,000 shares, an increase of 39.5% from the February 28th total of 2,960,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 914,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Burford Capital

In other news, insider David Perla sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.61, for a total value of $43,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 82,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,205,164.29. This trade represents a 3.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Aviva O. Will sold 7,500 shares of Burford Capital stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.61, for a total transaction of $109,575.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 310,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,543,403.19. This represents a 2.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 100,500 shares of company stock worth $1,468,305 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Burford Capital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Burford Capital during the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Burford Capital by 820.4% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 5,628 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Burford Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $119,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Burford Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $132,000. Finally, Mariner LLC purchased a new stake in Burford Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $142,000.

Burford Capital Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of BUR stock traded up $0.30 on Tuesday, reaching $13.51. 571,159 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 983,959. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 15.75, a quick ratio of 15.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Burford Capital has a 52 week low of $12.07 and a 52 week high of $16.77.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.62). The company had revenue of $65.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.38 million. Burford Capital had a net margin of 34.81% and a return on equity of 8.07%. As a group, analysts forecast that Burford Capital will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Burford Capital Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a yield of 1.8%. Burford Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.46%.

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.