Contrasting Great Ajax (NYSE:AJX) and Modiv Industrial (NYSE:MDV)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Great Ajax and Modiv Industrial, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

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

Great Ajax currently has a consensus target price of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 96.40%. Modiv Industrial has a consensus target price of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 12.36%. Given Great Ajax’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Great Ajax is more favorable than Modiv Industrial.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

58.6% of Great Ajax shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 8.2% of Modiv Industrial shares are held by institutional investors. 2.3% of Great Ajax shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.4% of Modiv Industrial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

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

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

Risk and Volatility

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

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Great Ajax	-$89.73 million	-1.55	-$47.07 million	($3.77)	-0.81
Modiv Industrial	$46.94 million	3.29	-$6.61 million	($0.11)	-145.64

Modiv Industrial has higher revenue and earnings 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.

Summary

Modiv Industrial beats Great Ajax on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.