Financial Analysis: Adamas Trust (NASDAQ:ADAM) versus Arbor Realty Trust (NYSE:ABR)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Arbor Realty Trust and Adamas Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Arbor Realty Trust	4	1	1	0	1.50
Adamas Trust	0	3	1	1	2.60

Arbor Realty Trust presently has a consensus price target of $6.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.25%. Adamas Trust has a consensus price target of $9.50, suggesting a potential downside of 3.26%. Given Arbor Realty Trust’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Arbor Realty Trust is more favorable than Adamas Trust.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Arbor Realty Trust and Adamas Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Arbor Realty Trust	$472.13 million	2.11	$148.80 million	$0.07	76.36
Adamas Trust	$601.95 million	1.47	$149.05 million	$1.68	5.85

Adamas Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Arbor Realty Trust. Adamas 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Arbor Realty Trust	6.24%	7.38%	1.22%
Adamas Trust	29.82%	14.72%	1.04%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

57.3% of Arbor Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.9% of Adamas Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.2% of Arbor Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of Adamas Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Arbor Realty Trust has a beta of 1.15, suggesting that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Adamas Trust has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Arbor Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.7%. Adamas Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.0%. Arbor Realty Trust pays out 971.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Adamas Trust pays out 64.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Adamas Trust beats Arbor Realty Trust on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Adamas Trust

New York Mortgage Trust, Inc. acquires, invests in, finances, and manages mortgage-related single-family and multi-family residential assets in the United States. Its targeted investments include residential loans, second mortgages, and business purpose loans; structured multi-family property investments, such as preferred equity in, and mezzanine loans to owners of multi-family properties, as well as joint venture equity investments in multi-family properties; non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS); agency RMBS; commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS); and other mortgage, residential housing, and credit-related assets. 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 incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in New York, New York.