Analyzing Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) & BrightSpire Capital (NYSE:BRSP)

BrightSpire Capital (NYSE:BRSP) and Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for BrightSpire Capital and Claros Mortgage Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BrightSpire Capital	2	0	4	0	2.33
Claros Mortgage Trust	3	1	0	0	1.25

BrightSpire Capital presently has a consensus price target of $6.50, indicating a potential upside of 38.92%. Claros Mortgage Trust has a consensus price target of $2.22, indicating a potential upside of 46.31%. Given Claros Mortgage Trust’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Claros Mortgage Trust is more favorable than BrightSpire Capital.

Profitability

This table compares BrightSpire Capital and Claros Mortgage Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BrightSpire Capital	-20.43%	7.01%	1.80%
Claros Mortgage Trust	-354.13%	-19.70%	-6.52%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

56.6% of BrightSpire Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.5% of Claros Mortgage Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of BrightSpire Capital 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 stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares BrightSpire Capital and Claros Mortgage Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BrightSpire Capital	$194.89 million	3.04	-$31.15 million	($0.23)	-20.34
Claros Mortgage Trust	$187.83 million	1.14	-$489.07 million	($3.83)	-0.40

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

Volatility and Risk

BrightSpire Capital has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Claros Mortgage Trust has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

BrightSpire Capital beats Claros Mortgage Trust on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BrightSpire Capital

BrightSpire Capital, Inc. operates as a commercial real estate (CRE) credit real estate investment trust in the United States and Europe. The company operates through Senior and Mezzanine Loans and Preferred Equity; Net Leased and Other Real Estate; and Corporate and Other segments. It focuses on originating, acquiring, financing, and managing a diversified portfolio of CRE debt investments consisting of first mortgage loans, senior loans, debt securities, mezzanine loans, and preferred equity investments, as well as net leased properties. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It generally would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was formerly known as Colony Credit Real Estate, Inc. and changed its name to BrightSpire Capital, Inc. in June 2021. BrightSpire Capital, Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered 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.