Head to Head Comparison: Ready Capital (NYSE:RC) versus AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNCO)

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNCO) and Ready Capital (NYSE:RC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for AGNC Investment and Ready Capital, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AGNC Investment	0	0	0	0	0.00
Ready Capital	2	3	0	0	1.60

Ready Capital has a consensus target price of $2.17, indicating a potential upside of 18.07%. Given Ready Capital’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ready Capital is more favorable than AGNC Investment.

Dividends

AGNC Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Ready Capital pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Ready Capital pays out -1.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

55.9% of Ready Capital shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Ready Capital shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares AGNC Investment and Ready Capital’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
Ready Capital	-131.76%	-16.78%	-3.43%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares AGNC Investment and Ready Capital”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AGNC Investment	$2.40 billion	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ready Capital	$569.17 million	0.53	-$228.91 million	($3.47)	-0.53

AGNC Investment has higher revenue and earnings than Ready Capital.

About AGNC Investment

AGNC Investment Corp. provides private capital to housing market in the United States. It invests in residential mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations for which the principal and interest payments are guaranteed by the United States government-sponsored enterprise or by the United States government agency. 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 American Capital Agency Corp. and changed its name to AGNC Investment Corp. in September 2016. AGNC Investment Corp. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.

About Ready Capital

Ready Capital Corporation operates as a real estate finance company in the United States. It operates through two segments: LMM Commercial Real Estate and Small Business Lending. The company originates, acquires, finances, and services lower-to-middle-market (LLM) commercial real estate loans, small business administration (SBA) loans, residential mortgage loans, construction loans, and mortgage-backed securities collateralized primarily by LLM loans, or other real estate-related investments. The LMM Commercial Real Estate segment originates LLM loans across the full life-cycle of an LLM property, including construction, bridge, stabilized, and agency loan origination channels. The Small Business Lending segment acquires, originates, and services owner-occupied loans guaranteed by the SBA under its SBA Section 7(a) Program; and acquires purchased future receivables. The company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) and 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 Sutherland Asset Management Corporation and changed its name to Ready Capital Corporation in September 2018. Ready Capital Corporation was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in New York, New York.