Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) Short Interest Up 39.5% in March

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. Based on an average daily volume of 914,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Burford Capital Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of BUR stock traded down $0.26 on Friday, hitting $13.48. The stock had a trading volume of 1,137,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 983,320. Burford Capital has a one year low of $12.07 and a one year high of $16.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $14.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.68. The company has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 15.75, a current ratio of 15.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

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

Burford Capital Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Burford Capital

In other Burford Capital news, President Aviva O. Will sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $4,543,403.19. This trade represents a 2.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider David Perla sold 3,000 shares of Burford Capital stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.61, for a total value of $43,830.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 82,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,205,164.29. This trade represents a 3.51 % 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 Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Burford Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $431,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Burford Capital by 109.3% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 9,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in shares of Burford Capital by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 3,727,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,529,000 after purchasing an additional 691,269 shares in the last quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Burford Capital by 149.9% during the 4th quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 112,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,431,000 after purchasing an additional 67,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Burford Capital during the 4th quarter valued at $255,000.

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.