Head-To-Head Contrast: Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance (NASDAQ:REFI) vs. Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT)

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance (NASDAQ:REFI) and Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance and Blackstone Mortgage Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance	0	0	1	1	3.50
Blackstone Mortgage Trust	0	6	2	0	2.25

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance presently has a consensus price target of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 29.37%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a consensus price target of $20.08, suggesting a potential upside of 7.51%. Given Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance is more favorable than Blackstone Mortgage Trust.

Dividends

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.2%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.1%. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance pays out 94.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Blackstone Mortgage Trust pays out -208.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

25.5% of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.2% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.3% of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance has a beta of 0.2, meaning that its stock price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a beta of 1.5, meaning that its stock price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance and Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance	63.27%	13.29%	10.10%
Blackstone Mortgage Trust	-7.98%	10.16%	1.84%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance and Blackstone Mortgage Trust”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance	$55.17 million	5.35	$38.71 million	$1.99	7.77
Blackstone Mortgage Trust	$2.04 billion	1.59	$246.55 million	($0.90)	-20.76

Blackstone Mortgage Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance. Blackstone Mortgage Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance beats Blackstone Mortgage Trust on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc. operates as a commercial real estate finance company in the United States. The company engages in originating, structuring, and investing in first mortgage loans and alternative structured financings secured by commercial real estate properties. Its portfolio primarily includes offers senior loans to state-licensed operators in the cannabis industry. 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. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc. was incorporated in 2021 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc., a real estate finance company, originates senior loans collateralized by commercial properties in North America, Europe, and Australia. The company originates and acquires senior floating rate mortgage loans that are secured by a first-priority mortgage on commercial real estate assets. It operates as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. The company was formerly known as Capital Trust, Inc. and changed its name to Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. in May 2013. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in New York, New York.