Analyzing Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) & Sunrise Realty Trust (NASDAQ:SUNS)

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) and Sunrise Realty Trust (NASDAQ:SUNS) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Franklin BSP Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.1%. Sunrise Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 15.6%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust pays out 181.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Sunrise Realty Trust pays out 121.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Sunrise Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Franklin BSP Realty Trust and Sunrise Realty Trust”s 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	2.44	$82.27 million	$0.44	18.03
Sunrise Realty Trust	$21.57 million	4.84	$12.14 million	$0.99	7.79

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Franklin BSP Realty Trust and Sunrise Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	1	1	3	0	2.40
Sunrise Realty Trust	1	2	0	0	1.67

Franklin BSP Realty Trust currently has a consensus price target of $11.50, indicating a potential upside of 44.93%. Sunrise Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $8.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.69%. Given Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Franklin BSP Realty Trust is more favorable than Sunrise Realty Trust.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

59.9% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 28.5% of Sunrise Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sunrise Realty Trust has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	20.49%	5.82%	1.17%
Sunrise Realty Trust	54.82%	8.33%	5.28%

Summary

Sunrise Realty Trust beats Franklin BSP Realty Trust on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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 Sunrise Realty Trust

Sunrise Realty Trust, Inc. engages in commercial real estate (CRE) lending business. It focuses on originating CRE debt investments and providing capital to borrowers and sponsors with transitional business plans collateralized by CRE assets. The company intends to create a diversified investment portfolio, targeting investments in senior mortgage loans, mezzanine loans, whole loans, B-notes, CMBS, and debt-like preferred equity securities across CRE asset classes. Sunrise Realty Trust, Inc. was incorporated in 2023 and is based in West Palm Beach, Florida.