Reviewing Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) and Greystone Housing Impact Investors (NYSE:GHI)

Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) and Greystone Housing Impact Investors (NYSE:GHI) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

9.0% of Greystone Housing Impact Investors shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Burford Capital shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Greystone Housing Impact Investors shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Burford Capital has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greystone Housing Impact Investors has a beta of 0.66, meaning that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Burford Capital and Greystone Housing Impact Investors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Burford Capital	0	0	3	0	3.00
Greystone Housing Impact Investors	0	0	2	0	3.00

Burford Capital currently has a consensus price target of $20.17, suggesting a potential upside of 49.38%. Greystone Housing Impact Investors has a consensus price target of $18.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.70%. Given Burford Capital’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Burford Capital is more favorable than Greystone Housing Impact Investors.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Burford Capital and Greystone Housing Impact Investors’ top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Burford Capital	$1.09 billion	N/A	$610.52 million	$1.43	9.43
Greystone Housing Impact Investors	$104.90 million	3.21	$54.01 million	$1.89	7.63

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

Dividends

Burford Capital pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Greystone Housing Impact Investors pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.2%. Burford Capital pays out 8.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Greystone Housing Impact Investors pays out 78.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

This table compares Burford Capital and Greystone Housing Impact Investors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Burford Capital	42.81%	10.61%	5.70%
Greystone Housing Impact Investors	45.87%	11.65%	2.51%

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 Greystone Housing Impact Investors

Greystone Housing Impact Investors LP acquires, holds, sells, and deals in a portfolio of mortgage revenue bonds (MRBs) that are issued to provide construction and/or permanent financing for multifamily, student, and senior citizen housing; skilled nursing properties; and commercial properties in the United States. The company operates in four segments: Affordable Multifamily MRB Investments; Seniors and Skilled Nursing MRB Investments; MF Properties; Market-Rate Joint Venture Investments. It also invests in governmental issuer loans. The company was formerly known as America First Multifamily Investors, L.P. and changed its name to Greystone Housing Impact Investors LP in December 2022. Greystone Housing Impact Investors LP was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Omaha, Nebraska.