Financial Review: Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) and Millrose Properties (NYSE:MRP)

Millrose Properties (NYSE:MRP) and Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Millrose Properties and Ellington Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Millrose Properties	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ellington Financial	106.40%	10.26%	0.81%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

55.6% of Ellington Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 4.4% of Ellington Financial shares are held 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Millrose Properties and Ellington Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Millrose Properties	0	0	0	1	4.00
Ellington Financial	0	1	3	1	3.00

Millrose Properties presently has a consensus target price of $25.00, suggesting a potential downside of 2.34%. Ellington Financial has a consensus target price of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.18%. Given Ellington Financial’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ellington Financial is more favorable than Millrose Properties.

Dividends

Millrose Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Ellington Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.7%. Ellington Financial pays out 113.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Millrose Properties and Ellington Financial”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Millrose Properties	$434.01 million	9.48	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ellington Financial	$282.19 million	4.28	$84.81 million	$1.38	9.65

Ellington Financial has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Millrose Properties.

Summary

Ellington Financial beats Millrose Properties on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Millrose Properties

Millrose Properties, Inc. is a real estate investment and management company that focuses on acquiring, developing, and managing high-quality commercial properties. They are headquartered in Purchase, New York.

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.