Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) versus BrightSpire Capital (NYSE:BRSP) Critical Analysis

Claros Mortgage Trust (NYSE:CMTG) and BrightSpire Capital (NYSE:BRSP) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, earnings, dividends and risk.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Claros Mortgage Trust and BrightSpire Capital”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Claros Mortgage Trust	$69.81 million	2.61	-$489.07 million	($3.83)	-0.34
BrightSpire Capital	$194.89 million	2.61	-$31.15 million	($0.23)	-17.50

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

Risk and Volatility

Claros Mortgage Trust has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BrightSpire Capital has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Claros Mortgage Trust and BrightSpire Capital, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Claros Mortgage Trust	3	1	0	0	1.25
BrightSpire Capital	2	0	4	0	2.33

Claros Mortgage Trust currently has a consensus price target of $2.22, indicating a potential upside of 71.57%. BrightSpire Capital has a consensus price target of $6.50, indicating a potential upside of 61.49%. Given Claros Mortgage Trust’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Claros Mortgage Trust is more favorable than BrightSpire Capital.

Profitability

This table compares Claros Mortgage Trust and BrightSpire Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Claros Mortgage Trust	-354.13%	-19.70%	-6.52%
BrightSpire Capital	-20.43%	7.01%	1.80%

Dividends

Claros Mortgage Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 31.0%. BrightSpire Capital pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 15.9%. Claros Mortgage Trust pays out -10.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BrightSpire Capital pays out -278.3% 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.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

89.5% of Claros Mortgage Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.6% of BrightSpire Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.6% of Claros Mortgage Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of BrightSpire Capital shares are owned by 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.

Summary

BrightSpire Capital beats Claros Mortgage Trust on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Claros Mortgage Trust

Claros Mortgage Trust, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust. It focuses on originating senior and subordinate loans on transitional commercial real estate assets in the United States. 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 incorporated in 2015 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About BrightSpire Capital

BrightSpire Capital, Inc. operates as a commercial real estate (CRE) credit real estate investment trust in the United States and Europe. The company operates through Senior and Mezzanine Loans and Preferred Equity; Net Leased and Other Real Estate; and Corporate and Other segments. It focuses on originating, acquiring, financing, and managing a diversified portfolio of CRE debt investments consisting of first mortgage loans, senior loans, debt securities, mezzanine loans, and preferred equity investments, as well as net leased properties. 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 formerly known as Colony Credit Real Estate, Inc. and changed its name to BrightSpire Capital, Inc. in June 2021. BrightSpire Capital, Inc. was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in New York, New York.