Contrasting Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) & AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNCN)

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) and AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNCN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability, risk, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Ladder Capital and AGNC Investment, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ladder Capital	1	2	4	0	2.43
AGNC Investment	0	0	0	0	0.00

Ladder Capital presently has a consensus target price of $12.36, suggesting a potential upside of 25.96%. Given Ladder Capital’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Ladder Capital is more favorable than AGNC Investment.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ladder Capital and AGNC Investment”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ladder Capital	$390.29 million	3.19	$64.18 million	$0.42	23.36
AGNC Investment	$2.40 billion	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Ladder Capital has higher earnings, but lower revenue than AGNC Investment.

Profitability

This table compares Ladder Capital and AGNC Investment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ladder Capital	12.62%	5.92%	1.64%
AGNC Investment	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Ladder Capital pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.4%. AGNC Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.75 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.8%. Ladder Capital pays out 219.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

62.3% of Ladder Capital shares are held by institutional investors. 12.6% of Ladder Capital shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Ladder Capital beats AGNC Investment on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ladder Capital

Ladder Capital Corp operates as an internally-managed real estate investment trust in the United States. It operates through three segments: Loans, Securities, and Real Estate. The Loans segment originates conduit first mortgage loans that are secured by cash-flowing commercial real estate; and originates and invests in balance sheet first mortgage loans secured by commercial real estate properties that are undergoing transition, including lease-up, sell-out, and renovation or repositioning. It also invests in note purchase financings, subordinated debt, mezzanine debt, and other structured finance products related to commercial real estate. The Securities segment invests in commercial mortgage-backed securities, U.S. treasury and agency, corporate bonds, and equity securities. The Real Estate segment owns and invests in a portfolio of commercial and residential real estate properties, such as leased properties, office buildings, student housing portfolios, hotels, industrial buildings, shopping center, and condominium units. 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 founded in 2008 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About AGNC Investment

AGNC Investment Corp. provides private capital to housing market in the United States. It invests in residential mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations for which the principal and interest payments are guaranteed by the United States government-sponsored enterprise or by the United States government agency. 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 American Capital Agency Corp. and changed its name to AGNC Investment Corp. in September 2016. AGNC Investment Corp. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.