Financial Contrast: Horizon Group Properties (OTCMKTS:HGPI) & Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT)

Horizon Group Properties (OTCMKTS:HGPI) and Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Horizon Group Properties and Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Horizon Group Properties	N/A	N/A	N/A
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	45.58%	8.92%	1.89%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Horizon Group Properties and Franklin BSP Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Horizon Group Properties	0	0	0	0	0.00
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	0	0	4	2	3.33

Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $15.50, indicating a potential upside of 28.31%. Given Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Franklin BSP Realty Trust is more favorable than Horizon Group Properties.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Horizon Group Properties and Franklin BSP Realty Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Horizon Group Properties	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	$548.44 million	1.80	$145.21 million	$0.82	14.73

Franklin BSP Realty Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Horizon Group Properties.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

59.9% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 15.9% of Horizon Group Properties shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Horizon Group Properties has a beta of 0.12, indicating that its stock price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Franklin BSP Realty Trust beats Horizon Group Properties on 10 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Horizon Group Properties

Based in Chicago, Illinois, Horizon Group Properties, Inc. has 12 operating factory outlet centers and one power center in 10 states totaling more than 2.6 million square feet.

About Franklin BSP Realty Trust

Benefit Street Partners operates as a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). BSP earns income from investing in a leveraged portfolio of residential mortgage pass-through securities consisting almost exclusively of adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) securities issued and guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises, either Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (together, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)), or by an agency of the federal government, Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae). BSP’s investment strategy focuses on managing a portfolio of residential mortgage investments consisting almost exclusively of ARM Agency Securities. As of December 31, 2012, the Company’s securities consisted of Agency Securities classified as available-for-sale and Residential mortgage securities classified as held-to-maturity.