New York Mortgage Trust (NASDAQ:NYMT) & Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) Head-To-Head Contrast

New York Mortgage Trust (NASDAQ:NYMT) and Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

New York Mortgage Trust has a beta of 1.92, meaning that its share price is 92% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Elme Communities has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

New York Mortgage Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.5%. Elme Communities pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. New York Mortgage Trust pays out -242.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Elme Communities pays out -480.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

54.9% of New York Mortgage Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.9% of Elme Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of New York Mortgage Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Elme Communities shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares New York Mortgage Trust and Elme Communities’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
New York Mortgage Trust	3.11%	0.48%	0.06%
Elme Communities	-5.51%	-1.17%	-0.70%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for New York Mortgage Trust and Elme Communities, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
New York Mortgage Trust	0	3	1	0	2.25
Elme Communities	0	4	0	0	2.00

New York Mortgage Trust currently has a consensus target price of $7.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.04%. Elme Communities has a consensus target price of $17.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.29%. Given New York Mortgage Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe New York Mortgage Trust is more favorable than Elme Communities.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares New York Mortgage Trust and Elme Communities”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
New York Mortgage Trust	$340.15 million	1.58	-$48.67 million	($0.33)	-17.97
Elme Communities	$227.91 million	5.69	-$52.98 million	($0.15)	-98.29

New York Mortgage Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Elme Communities. Elme Communities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than New York Mortgage Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

New York Mortgage Trust beats Elme Communities on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Elme Communities

Elme Communities is committed to elevating what home can be for middle-income renters by providing a higher level of quality, service, and experience. The Company is a multifamily real estate investment trust that owns and operates approximately 9,400 apartment homes in the Washington, DC metro and the Atlanta metro regions, and owns approximately 300,000 square feet of commercial space. Focused on providing quality, affordable homes to a deep, solid, and underserved base of mid-market demand, Elme Communities is building long-term value for shareholders.