Head to Head Contrast: Arbor Realty Trust (NYSE:ABR) vs. AG Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:MITT)

AG Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:MITT) and Arbor Realty Trust (NYSE:ABR) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for AG Mortgage Investment Trust and Arbor Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AG Mortgage Investment Trust	0	3	6	0	2.67
Arbor Realty Trust	4	2	1	0	1.57

AG Mortgage Investment Trust currently has a consensus price target of $9.07, suggesting a potential upside of 1.47%. Arbor Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $9.38, suggesting a potential upside of 17.78%. Given Arbor Realty Trust’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Arbor Realty Trust is more favorable than AG Mortgage Investment Trust.

Volatility & Risk

AG Mortgage Investment Trust has a beta of 1.65, meaning that its share price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Arbor Realty Trust has a beta of 1.39, meaning that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares AG Mortgage Investment Trust and Arbor Realty Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AG Mortgage Investment Trust	$408.49 million	0.69	$55.74 million	$0.93	9.61
Arbor Realty Trust	$1.17 billion	1.33	$264.64 million	$0.80	9.95

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

27.3% of AG Mortgage Investment Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.3% of Arbor Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of AG Mortgage Investment Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Arbor Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

AG Mortgage Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.3%. Arbor Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 15.1%. AG Mortgage Investment Trust pays out 98.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Arbor Realty Trust pays out 150.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. AG Mortgage Investment Trust has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares AG Mortgage Investment Trust and Arbor Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AG Mortgage Investment Trust	11.03%	13.88%	0.59%
Arbor Realty Trust	20.07%	11.63%	2.13%

Summary

Arbor Realty Trust beats AG Mortgage Investment Trust on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AG Mortgage Investment Trust

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. operates as a residential mortgage real estate investment trust in the United States. Its investment portfolio includes residential investments, including non-agency loans, agency-eligible loans, re-and non-performing loans, and non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities, as well as commercial loans 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. AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is based in New York, New York.

About Arbor Realty Trust

Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. invests in a diversified portfolio of structured finance assets in the multifamily, single-family rental, and commercial real estate markets in the United States. The company operates through Structured Business and Agency Business segments. It primarily invests in bridge and mezzanine loans, including junior participating interests in first mortgages, and preferred and direct equity, as well as real estate-related joint ventures, real estate-related notes, and various mortgage-related securities. In addition, the company offers bridge financing products to borrowers who seek short-term capital to be used in an acquisition of property; financing by making preferred equity investments in entities that directly or indirectly own real property; mezzanine financing in the form of loans that are subordinate to a conventional first mortgage loan and senior to the borrower’s equity in a transaction; junior participation financing in the form of a junior participating interest in the senior debt; and financing products to borrowers who are looking to acquire conventional, workforce, and affordable single-family housing. Further, it underwrites, originates, sells, and services multifamily mortgage loans through conduit/commercial mortgage-backed securities programs. 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. Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Uniondale, New York.