Analyzing Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) & MDB Capital (NASDAQ:MDBH)

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) and MDB Capital (NASDAQ:MDBH) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Burford Capital and MDB Capital”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Burford Capital	$563.24 million	5.97	$610.52 million	$1.16	13.23
MDB Capital	$5.99 million	10.71	-$6.97 million	($2.87)	-2.40

Burford Capital has higher revenue and earnings than MDB Capital. MDB Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Burford Capital, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Burford Capital and MDB Capital, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Burford Capital	0	0	3	0	3.00
MDB Capital	0	0	0	0	0.00

Burford Capital currently has a consensus price target of $19.50, suggesting a potential upside of 27.08%. Given Burford Capital’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Burford Capital is more favorable than MDB Capital.

Volatility and Risk

Burford Capital has a beta of 0.59, indicating that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MDB Capital has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.4% of MDB Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Burford Capital shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 55.5% of MDB Capital shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Burford Capital and MDB Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Burford Capital	34.81%	8.07%	4.28%
MDB Capital	N/A	-75.31%	-63.59%

Summary

Burford Capital beats MDB Capital on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The Asset Management and Other Services segment provides services to the legal industry, including litigation insurance. Burford Capital Limited was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey.

About MDB Capital

MDB Capital Holdings, LLC, through its subsidiaries, primarily operates as a broker-dealer. The company operates through two segments, Broker Dealer & Intellectual Property Service, and Technology Development. The Broker Dealer & Intellectual Property Service segment operates as a full-service broker dealer that focuses on conducting private and public securities offerings, as well as providing research services for investment banking due diligence. The Technology Development segment engages in the synthetic biology technology development business. The company was founded in 1997 and is based in Addison, Texas.