Head to Head Analysis: AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNCZ) vs. Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE)

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNCZ) and Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

41.3% of Ares Commercial Real Estate shares are held by institutional investors. 2.3% of Ares Commercial Real Estate shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for AGNC Investment and Ares Commercial Real Estate, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AGNC Investment	0	0	0	0	0.00
Ares Commercial Real Estate	2	4	1	0	1.86

Ares Commercial Real Estate has a consensus target price of $5.25, indicating a potential upside of 23.09%. Given Ares Commercial Real Estate’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ares Commercial Real Estate is more favorable than AGNC Investment.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares AGNC Investment and Ares Commercial Real Estate”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AGNC Investment	$1.60 billion	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ares Commercial Real Estate	$54.83 million	4.32	-$900,000.00	($0.36)	-11.85

AGNC Investment has higher revenue and earnings than Ares Commercial Real Estate.

Profitability

This table compares AGNC Investment and Ares Commercial Real Estate’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AGNC Investment	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ares Commercial Real Estate	-37.21%	-2.80%	-0.91%

Summary

Ares Commercial Real Estate beats AGNC Investment on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ares Commercial Real Estate

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation, a specialty finance company, originates and invests in commercial real estate (CRE) loans and related investments in the United States. It provides a range of financing solutions for the owners, operators, and sponsors of CRE properties. The company originates senior mortgage loans, subordinate debt and preferred equity products, mezzanine loans, and other CRE investments, including commercial mortgage-backed securities. It has elected and qualified to be taxed as a real estate investment trust for the United States federal income tax purposes under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation was incorporated in 2011 and is based in New York, New York.