Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) Reaches New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $8.75 and last traded at $8.7650, with a volume of 1055179 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $8.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BUR shares. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (down previously from $20.00) on shares of Burford Capital in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Burford Capital from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Burford Capital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Burford Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Burford Capital in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

Burford Capital Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.65. The company has a current ratio of 10.09, a quick ratio of 10.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 0.56.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.39). Burford Capital had a return on equity of 7.48% and a net margin of 37.08%.The business had revenue of $174.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $136.03 million. As a group, analysts predict that Burford Capital Limited will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Burford Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 125.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Burford Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Burford Capital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Burford Capital by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Burford Capital in the first quarter valued at $26,000. CWM LLC raised its position in Burford Capital by 131.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 2,058 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Burford Capital by 11.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 26,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 2,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Burford Capital by 1.3% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 243,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,269,000 after acquiring an additional 3,085 shares during the last quarter.

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.