Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,140,000 shares, a growth of 8.6% from the March 15th total of 1,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 760,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Burford Capital

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BUR. Mithaq Capital SPC purchased a new stake in shares of Burford Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $355,631,000. Invesco Ltd. purchased a new stake in Burford Capital during the 1st quarter valued at $110,137,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Burford Capital by 36.3% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 6,135,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,890,000 after buying an additional 1,635,000 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Burford Capital by 4,092.2% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,031,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,405,000 after buying an additional 1,006,566 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Burford Capital by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,596,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,161,000 after buying an additional 890,341 shares during the period.

Burford Capital Stock Up 0.8 %

BUR stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $14.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,603,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,160,692. Burford Capital has a 12 month low of $11.78 and a 12 month high of $17.70. The company has a current ratio of 9.53, a quick ratio of 9.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $15.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.27.

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.02). Burford Capital had a return on equity of 20.99% and a net margin of 56.17%. The business had revenue of $292.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.00 million. Equities research analysts predict that Burford Capital will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Burford Capital Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a $0.063 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from Burford Capital’s previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.06. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. Burford Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.38%.

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.