Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) versus Horizon Group Properties (OTCMKTS:HGPI) Critical Review

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

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Franklin BSP Realty Trust and Horizon Group Properties”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	$548.44 million	1.87	$145.21 million	$0.82	15.26
Horizon Group Properties	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

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

Risk & Volatility

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

59.9% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.9% of Horizon Group Properties shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Franklin BSP Realty Trust and Horizon Group Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	0	0	4	1	3.20
Horizon Group Properties	0	0	0	0	0.00

Franklin BSP Realty Trust presently has a consensus price target of $15.50, suggesting a potential upside of 23.90%. Given Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Franklin BSP Realty Trust is more favorable than Horizon Group Properties.

Profitability

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

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

Summary

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

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.

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.