Critical Comparison: AMREP (NYSE:AXR) and Grow Capital (OTCMKTS:GRWC)

AMREP (NYSE:AXR) and Grow Capital (OTCMKTS:GRWC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, risk, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for AMREP and Grow Capital, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AMREP	0	1	0	0	2.00
Grow Capital	0	0	0	0	0.00

Insider and Institutional Ownership

59.9% of AMREP shares are held by institutional investors. 37.2% of AMREP shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 43.9% of Grow Capital shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares AMREP and Grow Capital”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AMREP	$49.69 million	2.60	$12.72 million	$2.40	10.15
Grow Capital	$3.01 million	12.16	-$3.62 million	($0.03)	-8.00

AMREP has higher revenue and earnings than Grow Capital. Grow Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than AMREP, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

AMREP has a beta of 1.41, indicating that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grow Capital has a beta of 30.84, indicating that its share price is 2,984% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares AMREP and Grow Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AMREP	24.40%	9.68%	9.36%
Grow Capital	-124.36%	N/A	N/A

Summary

AMREP beats Grow Capital on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AMREP

AMREP Corporation, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the real estate business. The company operates through two segments, Land Development and Homebuilding. It sells developed and undeveloped lots to homebuilders, commercial and industrial property developers, and others. In addition, the company owns mineral interests covering an area of approximately 55,000 surface acres of land in Sandoval County, New Mexico; and owns oil, gas, and minerals and mineral interests covering an area of approximately 147 surface acres of land in Brighton, Colorado. Further, the company focuses on selling single-family detached homes and attached homes. As of April 30, 2023, it owned approximately 17,000 acres in Sandoval County, New Mexico. The company owns an approximately 160-acre property in Brighton, Colorado. AMREP Corporation was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Havertown, Pennsylvania.

About Grow Capital

Grow Capital, Inc. operates in the financial technology sector. It provides software, technology, and services to financial services firms and advisors. The company's software suite delivers customized back office compliance, multi-pay commission processing, and new client application submission system, as well as digital engagement marketing services centric to financial services. It also provides software customization, licensing, and subscription service contracts, as well as ongoing customization and maintenance services; and ad hoc services, including web hosting, website development, and other complementary professional services. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is based in Henderson, Nevada.