Head to Head Contrast: MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) and Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR)

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) and MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

44.5% of MARA shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Burford Capital shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of MARA shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Burford Capital and MARA, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Burford Capital	0	0	3	0	3.00
MARA	1	5	4	0	2.30

Burford Capital currently has a consensus price target of $19.50, suggesting a potential upside of 46.62%. MARA has a consensus price target of $23.33, suggesting a potential downside of 11.72%. Given Burford Capital’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Burford Capital is more favorable than MARA.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Burford Capital and MARA”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	5.17	$610.52 million	$1.16	11.47
MARA	$387.51 million	21.95	$261.17 million	$0.79	33.46

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

Profitability

This table compares Burford Capital and MARA’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%
MARA	27.48%	-8.40%	-6.92%

Volatility and Risk

Burford Capital has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its stock price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MARA has a beta of 5.63, suggesting that its stock price is 463% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Burford Capital beats MARA on 8 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 MARA

MARA Holdings, Inc. operates as a digital asset technology company that mines digital assets with a focus on the bitcoin ecosystem in United States. The company was formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to MARA Holdings, Inc. in August 2024. MARA Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.