Granite Point Mortgage Trust (NYSE:GPMT) and Great Ajax (NYSE:AJX) Head to Head Review

Granite Point Mortgage Trust (NYSE:GPMT) and Great Ajax (NYSE:AJX) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Granite Point Mortgage Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.9%. Great Ajax pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.7%. Granite Point Mortgage Trust pays out -40.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Great Ajax pays out -20.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Granite Point Mortgage Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Granite Point Mortgage Trust and Great Ajax’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Granite Point Mortgage Trust	-23.49%	4.10%	1.16%
Great Ajax	N/A	-2.69%	-0.55%

Volatility and Risk

Granite Point Mortgage Trust has a beta of 1.8, meaning that its share price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Great Ajax has a beta of 1.87, meaning that its share price is 87% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

51.6% of Granite Point Mortgage Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.6% of Great Ajax shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Granite Point Mortgage Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.8% of Great Ajax shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Granite Point Mortgage Trust and Great Ajax’s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Granite Point Mortgage Trust	$263.73 million	0.83	-$63.20 million	($1.50)	-2.88
Great Ajax	$72.33 million	1.30	-$47.07 million	($1.97)	-1.74

Great Ajax has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Granite Point Mortgage Trust. Granite Point Mortgage Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Great Ajax, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Granite Point Mortgage Trust and Great Ajax, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Granite Point Mortgage Trust	1	1	2	0	2.25
Great Ajax	0	2	1	0	2.33

Granite Point Mortgage Trust presently has a consensus target price of $6.56, suggesting a potential upside of 51.73%. Great Ajax has a consensus target price of $8.33, suggesting a potential upside of 142.95%. Given Great Ajax’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Great Ajax is more favorable than Granite Point Mortgage Trust.

Summary

Great Ajax beats Granite Point Mortgage Trust on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Granite Point Mortgage Trust

Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc., a real estate investment trust, originates, invests in, and manages senior floating-rate commercial mortgage loans, and other debt and debt-like commercial real estate investments in the United States. The company provides intermediate-term bridge or transitional financing for various purposes, including acquisitions, recapitalizations, and refinancing, as well as a range of business plans, including lease-up, renovation, repositioning, and repurposing of the commercial property. 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 founded in 2015 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Great Ajax

Great Ajax Corp. operates as a mortgage real estate investment trust. It acquires re-performing and non-performing loans; acquires or originates small balance commercial mortgage loans that are secured by multi-family residential and commercial mixed use retail/residential properties; and invests in single-family and smaller commercial properties. The company elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Great Ajax Corp. was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Tigard, Oregon.