Plymouth Industrial REIT (NYSE:PLYM – Get Free Report) and Lument Finance Trust (NYSE:LFT – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and dividends.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Plymouth Industrial REIT and Lument Finance Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Plymouth Industrial REIT | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.29 |
| Lument Finance Trust | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.00 |
Plymouth Industrial REIT presently has a consensus target price of $25.57, suggesting a potential upside of 7.31%. Lument Finance Trust has a consensus target price of $2.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1.01%. Given Plymouth Industrial REIT’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Plymouth Industrial REIT is more favorable than Lument Finance Trust.
Earnings and Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Plymouth Industrial REIT | $199.46 million | 5.42 | $13.66 million | $0.43 | 55.42 |
| Lument Finance Trust | $34.79 million | 3.72 | $19.72 million | $0.32 | 7.73 |
Lument Finance Trust has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Plymouth Industrial REIT. Lument Finance Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Plymouth Industrial REIT, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility and Risk
Plymouth Industrial REIT has a beta of 1.36, suggesting that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lument Finance Trust has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Plymouth Industrial REIT and Lument Finance Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Plymouth Industrial REIT | 13.45% | 5.47% | 1.86% |
| Lument Finance Trust | 16.43% | 12.59% | 1.71% |
Insider & Institutional Ownership
92.7% of Plymouth Industrial REIT shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.5% of Lument Finance Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 1.3% of Plymouth Industrial REIT shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Lument Finance Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Dividends
Plymouth Industrial REIT pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Lument Finance Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.9%. Plymouth Industrial REIT pays out 223.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lument Finance Trust pays out 100.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Lument Finance Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Summary
Plymouth Industrial REIT beats Lument Finance Trust on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Plymouth Industrial REIT
Plymouth Industrial REIT, Inc. (NYSE: PLYM) is a full service, vertically integrated real estate investment company focused on the acquisition, ownership and management of single and multi-tenant industrial properties. Our mission is to provide tenants with cost effective space that is functional, flexible and safe.
About Lument Finance Trust
Lument Finance Trust, Inc., a real estate investment trust, focuses on investing in, financing, and managing a portfolio of commercial real estate (CRE) debt investments in the United States. The company primarily invests in transitional floating rate CRE mortgage loans on middle market multi-family assets; and other CRE -related investments, including mezzanine loans, preferred equity, commercial mortgage-backed securities, fixed rate loans, construction loans, and other CRE debt instruments. Lument Finance Trust, Inc. is qualified as a real estate investment trust (REIT) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. As a REIT, it would not be subject to federal income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was formerly known as Hunt Companies Finance Trust, Inc. and changed its name to Lument Finance Trust, Inc. in December 2020. Lument Finance Trust, Inc. was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
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