Impac Mortgage (NYSE:IMH) and Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) Head to Head Survey

Impac Mortgage (NYSE:IMH) and Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Impac Mortgage and Starwood Property Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Impac Mortgage	$8.60 million	0.17	-$39.43 million	($1.71)	-0.02
Starwood Property Trust	$2.05 billion	3.28	$339.21 million	$1.17	17.03

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Impac Mortgage and Starwood Property Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Impac Mortgage	0	0	0	0	0.00
Starwood Property Trust	0	3	5	1	2.78

Starwood Property Trust has a consensus price target of $22.13, suggesting a potential upside of 11.04%. Given Starwood Property Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Starwood Property Trust is more favorable than Impac Mortgage.

Profitability

This table compares Impac Mortgage and Starwood Property Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Impac Mortgage	N/A	-1,309.14%	-37.12%
Starwood Property Trust	18.82%	9.93%	1.00%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

12.5% of Impac Mortgage shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.8% of Starwood Property Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of Impac Mortgage shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Starwood Property Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Impac Mortgage has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Starwood Property Trust has a beta of 1.69, meaning that its share price is 69% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Starwood Property Trust beats Impac Mortgage on 15 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Impac Mortgage

Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. engages in the provision of mortgage and real estate solutions. It operates through the following segments: Mortgage Lending, Real Estate Services, and Long-Term Mortgage Portfolio. The Mortgage Lending segment offers mortgage lending products through lending channels, retail, wholesale, and correspondent, and retains mortgage servicing rights and warehouse lending facilities. The Real Estate Services segment performs servicing and provides loss mitigation services for securitized long-term mortgage portfolio. The Long-Term Mortgage Portfolio segment is composed of residual interests in securitization trusts. The company was founded by Joseph R. Tomkinson in August 1995 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA.

About Starwood Property Trust

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Commercial and Residential Lending, Infrastructure Lending, Property, and Investing and Servicing segments. The Commercial and Residential Lending segment originates, acquires, finances, and manages commercial first mortgages, non-agency residential mortgages, subordinated mortgages, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and residential mortgage-backed securities, as well as other real estate and real estate-related debt investments, include distressed or non-performing loans. The Infrastructure lending segment originates, acquires, finances, and manages infrastructure debt investments. The Property segment engages primarily in acquiring and managing equity interests in stabilized commercial real estate properties, such as multifamily properties and commercial properties subject to net leases, that are held for investment. The Investing and Servicing segment manages and works out problem assets; acquires and manages unrated, investment grade, and non-investment grade rated CMBS comprising subordinated interests of securitization and re-securitization transactions; originates conduit loans for the primary purpose of selling these loans into securitization transactions; and acquires commercial real estate assets that include properties acquired from CMBS trusts. The company qualifies as a REIT for federal income tax purposes and would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut.