Empiric Student Property (OTCMKTS:EPCFF) versus Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Critical Analysis

Empiric Student Property (OTCMKTS:EPCFF) and Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Empiric Student Property and Blackstone Mortgage Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Empiric Student Property	0	0	0	0	0.00
Blackstone Mortgage Trust	0	6	2	0	2.25

Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a consensus target price of $20.08, indicating a potential upside of 7.71%. Given Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Blackstone Mortgage Trust is more favorable than Empiric Student Property.

Profitability

This table compares Empiric Student Property and Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Empiric Student Property	N/A	N/A	N/A
Blackstone Mortgage Trust	-12.91%	9.35%	1.68%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

64.2% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Blackstone Mortgage Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Empiric Student Property and Blackstone Mortgage Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Empiric Student Property	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Blackstone Mortgage Trust	$2.04 billion	1.58	$246.55 million	($1.39)	-13.41

Blackstone Mortgage Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Empiric Student Property.

Summary

Blackstone Mortgage Trust beats Empiric Student Property on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Empiric Student Property

Empiric Student Property plc is a leading provider and operator of modern, predominantly direct-let, premium student accommodation serving key UK universities. Investing in both operating and development assets, Empiric is a fully integrated operational student property business focused on premium studio-led accommodation managed through its Hello Student operating platform, that is attractive to affluent growing student segments. The Company, an internally managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") incorporated in England and Wales, listed on the premium listing segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority, was admitted to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange in June 2014. The Company is classified as a commercial company listed under chapter 6 of the UK Listing rules and as such is not an alternative investment fund ("AIF") for the purposes of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive ("AIFMD") and is not required to provide investors with a Key information Document ("KID") in accordance with the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products ("PRIIPs") regulations.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc., a real estate finance company, originates senior loans collateralized by commercial properties in North America, Europe, and Australia. The company originates and acquires senior floating rate mortgage loans that are secured by a first-priority mortgage on commercial real estate assets. It operates as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. The company was formerly known as Capital Trust, Inc. and changed its name to Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. in May 2013. Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in New York, New York.