Head-To-Head Analysis: Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) vs. ACRES Commercial Realty (NYSE:ACR)

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) and ACRES Commercial Realty (NYSE:ACR) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and profitability.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

59.9% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.0% of ACRES Commercial Realty shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.6% of ACRES Commercial Realty shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Franklin BSP Realty Trust and ACRES Commercial Realty, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	2	0	3	0	2.20
ACRES Commercial Realty	0	2	2	0	2.50

Franklin BSP Realty Trust presently has a consensus price target of $11.50, indicating a potential upside of 46.96%. ACRES Commercial Realty has a consensus price target of $24.50, indicating a potential upside of 41.19%. Given Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Franklin BSP Realty Trust is more favorable than ACRES Commercial Realty.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Franklin BSP Realty Trust and ACRES Commercial Realty”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	$270.07 million	2.23	$82.27 million	$0.51	15.34
ACRES Commercial Realty	$79.95 million	1.55	$21.32 million	$0.65	26.70

Franklin BSP Realty Trust has higher revenue and earnings than ACRES Commercial Realty. Franklin BSP Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ACRES Commercial Realty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Franklin BSP Realty Trust and ACRES Commercial Realty’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	24.26%	6.46%	1.34%
ACRES Commercial Realty	37.20%	5.61%	1.36%

Volatility & Risk

Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a beta of 0.92, indicating that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ACRES Commercial Realty has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

About Franklin BSP Realty Trust

Benefit Street Partners operates as a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). BSP earns income from investing in a leveraged portfolio of residential mortgage pass-through securities consisting almost exclusively of adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) securities issued and guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises, either Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (together, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)), or by an agency of the federal government, Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae). BSP’s investment strategy focuses on managing a portfolio of residential mortgage investments consisting almost exclusively of ARM Agency Securities. As of December 31, 2012, the Company’s securities consisted of Agency Securities classified as available-for-sale and Residential mortgage securities classified as held-to-maturity.

About ACRES Commercial Realty

ACRES Commercial Realty Corp., a real estate investment trust (REIT), focuses on the origination, holding, and management of commercial real estate mortgage loans and equity investments in commercial real estate property in the United States. It invests in commercial real estate-related assets, including floating-rate first mortgage loans, first priority interests in first mortgage loans, subordinated interests in first mortgage loans, mezzanine financing, preferred equity investments, and commercial mortgage-backed securities. 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 Exantas Capital Corp. and changed its name to ACRES Commercial Realty Corp. in February 2021. ACRES Commercial Realty Corp. was incorporated in 2005 and is based in Uniondale, New York.