Alexander’s (NYSE:ALX) versus Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) Head-To-Head Review

Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) and Alexander’s (NYSE:ALX) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Claros Mortgage Trust and Alexander’s’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Claros Mortgage Trust	-267.14%	-19.34%	-6.27%
Alexander’s	9.72%	17.38%	1.71%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Claros Mortgage Trust and Alexander’s”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Claros Mortgage Trust	$187.83 million	1.57	-$489.07 million	($3.32)	-0.63
Alexander’s	$213.18 million	5.64	$28.22 million	$4.00	58.83

Alexander’s has higher revenue and earnings than Claros Mortgage Trust. Claros Mortgage Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alexander’s, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Claros Mortgage Trust and Alexander’s, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Claros Mortgage Trust	3	0	1	0	1.50
Alexander’s	0	2	0	0	2.00

Claros Mortgage Trust currently has a consensus target price of $2.92, indicating a potential upside of 39.09%. Given Claros Mortgage Trust’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Claros Mortgage Trust is more favorable than Alexander’s.

Volatility and Risk

Claros Mortgage Trust has a beta of 1.18, meaning that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alexander’s has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

89.5% of Claros Mortgage Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.0% of Alexander’s shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Claros Mortgage Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 26.4% of Alexander’s 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.

Summary

Alexander’s beats Claros Mortgage Trust on 10 of the 14 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 Alexander’s

Alexander’s, Inc. (NYSE: ALX) is a real estate investment trust (REIT), incorporated in Delaware, engaged in leasing, managing, developing and redeveloping its properties. All references to we, us, our, Company and Alexander’s refer to Alexander’s, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. We are managed by, and our properties are leased and developed by, Vornado Realty Trust (Vornado) (NYSE: VNO). We have five properties in New York City.