Head to Head Review: Burford Capital (NYSE:BUR) & Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Coinbase Global	41.99%	15.70%	7.74%
Burford Capital	37.08%	7.48%	3.88%

Volatility and Risk

Coinbase Global has a beta of 3.67, meaning that its stock price is 267% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Burford Capital has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Coinbase Global	$7.67 billion	10.35	$2.58 billion	$11.56	26.74
Burford Capital	$444.57 million	4.39	$146.48 million	$0.38	23.46

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Coinbase Global and Burford Capital, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Coinbase Global	1	10	18	1	2.63
Burford Capital	0	1	1	1	3.00

Coinbase Global presently has a consensus target price of $397.36, indicating a potential upside of 28.54%. Burford Capital has a consensus target price of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 101.93%. Given Burford Capital’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Burford Capital is more favorable than Coinbase Global.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

68.8% of Coinbase Global shares are held by institutional investors. 17.7% of Coinbase Global shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of Burford Capital shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Coinbase Global beats Burford Capital on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Coinbase Global

Coinbase Global, Inc. provides financial infrastructure and technology for the crypto economy in the United States and internationally. The company offers the primary financial account in the crypto economy for consumers; and a marketplace with a pool of liquidity for transacting in crypto assets for institutions. It also provides technology and services that enable developers to build crypto products and securely accept crypto assets as payment. The company was founded in 2012 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.

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.