MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA – Get Free Report) and Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
65.3% of MFA Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.5% of Claros Mortgage Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of MFA Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of Claros Mortgage Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent recommendations for MFA Financial and Claros Mortgage Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| MFA Financial | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2.57 |
| Claros Mortgage Trust | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.25 |
Risk & Volatility
MFA Financial has a beta of 1.42, meaning that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Claros Mortgage Trust has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares MFA Financial and Claros Mortgage Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| MFA Financial | $745.06 million | 1.20 | $176.78 million | $1.00 | 8.83 |
| Claros Mortgage Trust | $187.83 million | 1.21 | -$489.07 million | ($3.83) | -0.42 |
MFA Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Claros Mortgage Trust. Claros Mortgage Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than MFA Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares MFA Financial and Claros Mortgage Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| MFA Financial | 19.38% | 7.58% | 1.05% |
| Claros Mortgage Trust | -354.13% | -19.70% | -6.52% |
Summary
MFA Financial beats Claros Mortgage Trust on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About MFA Financial
MFA Financial, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate investment trust in the United States. It invests in residential mortgage securities, including non-agency mortgage-backed securities, agency MBS, and credit risk transfer securities; residential whole loans, including purchased performing loans, purchased credit deteriorated, and non-performing loans; and mortgage servicing rights related assets. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is based in New York, New York.
About Claros Mortgage Trust
Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust. It focuses on originating senior and subordinate loans on transitional commercial real estate assets in the United States. The company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust. As a result, it would not be subject to corporate income tax on that portion of its net income that is distributed to shareholders. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
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