Head to Head Comparison: Great Ajax (NYSE:AJX) vs. Modiv Industrial (NYSE:MDV)

Modiv Industrial (NYSE:MDV) and Great Ajax (NYSE:AJX) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Volatility & Risk

Modiv Industrial has a beta of -0.21, suggesting that its stock price is 121% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Great Ajax has a beta of 1.9, suggesting that its stock price is 90% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

8.2% of Modiv Industrial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.6% of Great Ajax shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.4% of Modiv Industrial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Great Ajax shares are owned by company 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 breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Modiv Industrial and Great Ajax, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Modiv Industrial	0	0	1	0	3.00
Great Ajax	0	2	1	0	2.33

Modiv Industrial currently has a consensus price target of $18.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.50%. Great Ajax has a consensus price target of $6.00, suggesting a potential upside of 98.02%. Given Great Ajax’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Great Ajax is more favorable than Modiv Industrial.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Modiv Industrial and Great Ajax”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Modiv Industrial	$46.94 million	3.29	-$6.61 million	($0.11)	-145.45
Great Ajax	$72.33 million	1.90	-$47.07 million	($3.77)	-0.80

Modiv Industrial has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Great Ajax. Modiv Industrial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Great Ajax, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Modiv Industrial pays an annual dividend of $1.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.2%. Great Ajax pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.9%. Modiv Industrial pays out -1,045.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Great Ajax pays out -6.4% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Modiv Industrial and Great Ajax’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Modiv Industrial	6.72%	1.42%	0.61%
Great Ajax	-203.61%	-8.35%	-1.99%

Summary

Modiv Industrial beats Great Ajax on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Modiv Industrial

Modiv Industrial, Inc. is an internally managed REIT that is focused on single-tenant net-lease industrial manufacturing real estate. The Company actively acquires critical industrial manufacturing properties with long-term leases to tenants that fuel the national economy and strengthen the nation's supply chains.

About Great Ajax

Great Ajax Corp. operates as a mortgage real estate investment trust. It acquires re-performing and non-performing loans; acquires or originates small balance commercial mortgage loans that are secured by multi-family residential and commercial mixed use retail/residential properties; and invests in single-family and smaller commercial properties. The company elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Great Ajax Corp. was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Tigard, Oregon.