Head-To-Head Analysis: Rexford Industrial Realty (NYSE:REXR) vs. MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA)

Rexford Industrial Realty (NYSE:REXR) and MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Rexford Industrial Realty and MFA Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rexford Industrial Realty	30.71%	3.34%	2.36%
MFA Financial	4.70%	9.66%	1.76%

Risk & Volatility

Rexford Industrial Realty has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MFA Financial has a beta of 2.15, suggesting that its stock price is 115% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

99.5% of Rexford Industrial Realty shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.3% of MFA Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Rexford Industrial Realty shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of MFA Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Rexford Industrial Realty pays an annual dividend of $1.67 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. MFA Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.3%. Rexford Industrial Realty pays out 153.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. MFA Financial pays out -1,750.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. MFA Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Rexford Industrial Realty and MFA Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rexford Industrial Realty	1	4	5	0	2.40
MFA Financial	0	2	4	0	2.67

Rexford Industrial Realty currently has a consensus price target of $52.60, suggesting a potential upside of 7.12%. MFA Financial has a consensus price target of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.36%. Given Rexford Industrial Realty’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Rexford Industrial Realty is more favorable than MFA Financial.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Rexford Industrial Realty and MFA Financial’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rexford Industrial Realty	$867.49 million	12.33	$238.02 million	$1.09	45.05
MFA Financial	$163.70 million	7.10	$80.16 million	($0.08)	-142.38

Rexford Industrial Realty has higher revenue and earnings than MFA Financial. MFA Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Rexford Industrial Realty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Rexford Industrial Realty beats MFA Financial on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Rexford Industrial Realty

Rexford Industrial creates value by investing in, operating and redeveloping industrial properties throughout infill Southern California, the world's fourth largest industrial market and consistently the highest-demand with lowest-supply major market in the nation. The Company's highly differentiated strategy enables internal and external growth opportunities through its proprietary value creation and asset management capabilities. Rexford Industrial's high-quality, irreplaceable portfolio comprises 371 properties with approximately 45.0 million rentable square feet occupied by a stable and diverse tenant base. Structured as a real estate investment trust (REIT) listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "REXR," Rexford Industrial is an S&P MidCap 400 Index member.

About MFA Financial

MFA Financial, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate investment trust in the United States. It invests in residential mortgage securities, including non-agency mortgage-backed securities, agency MBS, and credit risk transfer securities; residential whole loans, including purchased performing loans, purchased credit deteriorated, and non-performing loans; and mortgage servicing rights related assets. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is based in New York, New York.