AG Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:MITT – Get Free Report) and Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current recommendations for AG Mortgage Investment Trust and Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| AG Mortgage Investment Trust | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2.57 |
| Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.29 |
AG Mortgage Investment Trust currently has a consensus price target of $8.50, suggesting a potential upside of 11.62%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a consensus price target of $10.88, suggesting a potential upside of 10.80%. Given AG Mortgage Investment Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe AG Mortgage Investment Trust is more favorable than Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance.
Valuation & Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| AG Mortgage Investment Trust | $408.49 million | 0.59 | $55.74 million | $0.86 | 8.85 |
| Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance | $303.67 million | 4.49 | -$119.64 million | $0.89 | 11.03 |
AG Mortgage Investment Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance. AG Mortgage Investment Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
27.3% of AG Mortgage Investment Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.4% of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.8% of AG Mortgage Investment Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance 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.
Dividends
AG Mortgage Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.0%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.2%. AG Mortgage Investment Trust pays out 97.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance pays out 112.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. AG Mortgage Investment Trust has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. AG Mortgage Investment Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Volatility & Risk
AG Mortgage Investment Trust has a beta of 1.68, indicating that its stock price is 68% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a beta of 1.6, indicating that its stock price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares AG Mortgage Investment Trust and Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| AG Mortgage Investment Trust | 10.70% | 13.21% | 0.59% |
| Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance | 51.40% | 8.34% | 1.70% |
Summary
AG Mortgage Investment Trust beats Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance on 11 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 Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance
Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that originates, acquires, invests in, and manages commercial first mortgage loans, subordinate financings, and other commercial real estate-related debt investments in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. It is qualified as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code. As a REIT, it would not be subject to federal income taxes, if the company distributes at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to its stockholders. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is based in New York, New York.
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