Critical Contrast: Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) & Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN)

Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) and Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

68.8% of Coinbase Global shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.4% of Ellington Credit shares are owned by institutional investors. 16.7% of Coinbase Global shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Ellington Credit shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Coinbase Global and Ellington Credit”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Coinbase Global	$7.18 billion	7.28	$1.26 billion	($3.84)	-51.60
Ellington Credit	$51.80 million	3.11	-$38.85 million	($0.98)	-4.30

Coinbase Global has higher revenue and earnings than Ellington Credit. Coinbase Global is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ellington Credit, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Coinbase Global and Ellington Credit, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Coinbase Global	3	12	19	0	2.47
Ellington Credit	0	1	1	0	2.50

Coinbase Global currently has a consensus price target of $219.97, suggesting a potential upside of 11.02%. Ellington Credit has a consensus price target of $5.50, suggesting a potential upside of 30.46%. Given Ellington Credit’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ellington Credit is more favorable than Coinbase Global.

Profitability

This table compares Coinbase Global and Ellington Credit’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Coinbase Global	-15.72%	3.12%	1.54%
Ellington Credit	-70.52%	N/A	N/A

Volatility and Risk

Coinbase Global has a beta of 3.39, indicating that its share price is 239% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ellington Credit has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Coinbase Global beats Ellington Credit on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Coinbase Global

Coinbase Global, Inc. provides financial infrastructure and technology for the crypto economy in the United States and internationally. The company offers the primary financial account in the crypto economy for consumers; and a marketplace with a pool of liquidity for transacting in crypto assets for institutions. It also provides technology and services that enable developers to build crypto products and securely accept crypto assets as payment. The company was founded in 2012 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.

About Ellington Credit

Ellington Credit Company, a real estate investment trust, acquires, invests in, and manages residential mortgage-and real estate-related assets. It acquires and manages residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), including agency pools and agency collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs); and non-agency RMBS, such as non-agency CMOs, such as investment grade and non-investment grade. 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 formerly known as Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT and changed its name to Ellington Credit Company in April 2024. Ellington Credit Company was incorporated in 2012 and is based in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.