Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG – Get Free Report) and Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance (NASDAQ:REFI – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability and risk.
Volatility and Risk
Claros Mortgage Trust has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance has a beta of 0.26, indicating that its share price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Claros Mortgage Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 31.4%. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 18.5%. Claros Mortgage Trust pays out -10.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance pays out 137.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Claros Mortgage Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Earnings & Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Claros Mortgage Trust | $69.81 million | 2.58 | -$489.07 million | ($3.83) | -0.33 |
| Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance | $55.39 million | 4.69 | $36.01 million | $1.37 | 7.40 |
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Claros Mortgage Trust. Claros Mortgage Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
89.5% of Claros Mortgage Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 25.5% of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.6% of Claros Mortgage Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.5% of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Claros Mortgage Trust and Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Claros Mortgage Trust | -354.13% | -19.70% | -6.52% |
| Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance | 54.57% | 11.53% | 8.06% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Claros Mortgage Trust and Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Claros Mortgage Trust | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.25 |
| Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2.40 |
Claros Mortgage Trust presently has a consensus price target of $2.22, suggesting a potential upside of 73.86%. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance has a consensus price target of $15.33, suggesting a potential upside of 51.16%. Given Claros Mortgage Trust’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Claros Mortgage Trust is more favorable than Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance.
Summary
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance beats Claros Mortgage Trust on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc. operates as a commercial real estate finance company in the United States. The company engages in originating, structuring, and investing in first mortgage loans and alternative structured financings secured by commercial real estate properties. Its portfolio primarily includes offers senior loans to state-licensed operators in the cannabis industry. The company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) and would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc. was incorporated in 2021 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
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