Comparing COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) and Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment (NYSE:CHMI)

Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment (NYSE:CHMI) and COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Volatility & Risk

Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment has a beta of 1.42, indicating that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, COPT Defense Properties has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

18.5% of Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of COPT Defense Properties shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 17.4%. COPT Defense Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment pays out 1,000.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. COPT Defense Properties pays out 99.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment and COPT Defense Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment	0	1	1	1	3.00
COPT Defense Properties	0	3	5	0	2.63

Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment presently has a consensus target price of $4.50, suggesting a potential upside of 30.62%. COPT Defense Properties has a consensus target price of $32.88, suggesting a potential upside of 22.15%. Given Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment is more favorable than COPT Defense Properties.

Profitability

This table compares Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment and COPT Defense Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment	-60.97%	15.18%	1.45%
COPT Defense Properties	18.44%	9.07%	3.28%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment and COPT Defense Properties”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment	$34.58 million	3.15	-$34.79 million	$0.06	57.42
COPT Defense Properties	$753.27 million	4.03	$138.93 million	$1.23	21.88

COPT Defense Properties has higher revenue and earnings than Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment. COPT Defense Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

COPT Defense Properties beats Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment

Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment Corporation, a residential real estate finance company, acquires, invests in, and manages residential mortgage assets in the United States. It operates through Investments in RMBS (residential mortgage-backed securities) and Investments in Servicing Related Assets segments. Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment Corporation qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. The company generally would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment Corporation was incorporated in 2012 and is based in Farmingdale, New Jersey.

About COPT Defense Properties

COPT Defense Properties is a real estate investment trust. It acquires, develops, manages, sells, and leases out office properties and data centers. The firm operates through the following segments: Defense/Information Technology Locations, Regional Office, Wholesale Data Center, and Other. The company was founded on January 22,1988 and is headquartered in Columbia, MD.