Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Burford Capital Limited (NYSE:BUR - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Monday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $15.60, but opened at $14.38. Burford Capital shares last traded at $15.07, with a volume of 922,435 shares changing hands.

The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.62). Burford Capital had a return on equity of 8.07% and a net margin of 34.81%. The business had revenue of $65.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.38 million.

Burford Capital Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Burford Capital

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

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in 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 valued at $47,529,000 after purchasing an additional 691,269 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Burford Capital by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,946,927 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,076,000 after buying an additional 582,514 shares during the period. Sycale Advisors NY LLC raised its holdings in Burford Capital by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Sycale Advisors NY LLC now owns 2,157,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,514,000 after buying an additional 107,983 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Burford Capital by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,429,089 shares of the company's stock worth $18,243,000 after buying an additional 63,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Emeth Value Capital LLC purchased a new position in Burford Capital during the fourth quarter worth $17,980,000.

Burford Capital Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 15.75 and a quick ratio of 15.75. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $14.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.62.

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.