Analyzing New York Mortgage Trust (NASDAQ:NYMTN) & Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC)

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) and New York Mortgage Trust (NASDAQ:NYMTN) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Dividends

Ellington Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.5%. New York Mortgage Trust pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.0%. Ellington Financial pays out 95.1% 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 summary of current recommendations for Ellington Financial and New York Mortgage Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ellington Financial	0	4	0	0	2.00
New York Mortgage Trust	0	0	0	0	0.00

Ellington Financial currently has a consensus price target of $14.50, suggesting a potential upside of 6.74%. Given Ellington Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ellington Financial is more favorable than New York Mortgage Trust.

Profitability

This table compares Ellington Financial and New York Mortgage Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ellington Financial	52.43%	16.61%	1.38%
New York Mortgage Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

55.6% of Ellington Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of Ellington Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ellington Financial and New York Mortgage Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ellington Financial	$390.76 million	4.48	$146.87 million	$1.64	8.28
New York Mortgage Trust	$273.96 million	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Ellington Financial has higher revenue and earnings than New York Mortgage Trust.

Summary

Ellington Financial beats New York Mortgage Trust on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ellington Financial

Ellington Financial Inc., through its subsidiary, Ellington Financial Operating Partnership LLC, acquires and manages mortgage-related, consumer-related, corporate-related, and other financial assets in the United States. The company acquires and manages residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) backed by prime jumbo, Alt-A, manufactured housing, and subprime mortgage; RMBS for which the principal and interest payments are guaranteed by the U.S. government agency or the U.S. government-sponsored entity; residential mortgage loans; commercial mortgage-backed securities; and commercial mortgage loans and other commercial real estate debt. It also provides collateralized loan obligations; mortgage-related and non-mortgage-related derivatives; corporate debt and equity securities; corporate loans; and other strategic investments; and consumer loans and asset-backed securities backed by consumer and commercial assets. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust (REIT) for federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, it intends to distribute at least 90% of its taxable income as dividends to shareholders. Ellington Financial LLC was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.

About New York Mortgage Trust

New York Mortgage Trust, Inc. acquires, invests in, finances, and manages mortgage-related single-family and multi-family residential assets in the United States. Its targeted investments include residential loans, including business purpose loans; structured multi-family property investments, such as preferred equity in, and mezzanine loans to owners of multi-family properties; non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS); agency RMBS; commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS); single-family rental properties; and other mortgage, residential housing, and credit-related assets. The company also qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It generally would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. New York Mortgage Trust, Inc. was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in New York, New York.