Reviewing Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) and Sunrise Realty Trust (NASDAQ:SUNS)

Sunrise Realty Trust (NASDAQ:SUNS) and Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and dividends.

Volatility and Risk

Sunrise Realty Trust has a beta of 1, meaning that its share price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Ladder Capital has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

62.3% of Ladder Capital shares are held by institutional investors. 28.5% of Sunrise Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.6% of Ladder Capital 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Sunrise Realty Trust and Ladder Capital, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sunrise Realty Trust	1	3	1	0	2.00
Ladder Capital	0	3	4	0	2.57

Sunrise Realty Trust presently has a consensus price target of $9.75, indicating a potential upside of 35.04%. Ladder Capital has a consensus price target of $12.29, indicating a potential upside of 44.28%. Given Ladder Capital’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ladder Capital is more favorable than Sunrise Realty Trust.

Dividends

Sunrise Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 17.9%. Ladder Capital pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.8%. Sunrise Realty Trust pays out 146.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Ladder Capital pays out 115.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Sunrise Realty Trust and Ladder Capital”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sunrise Realty Trust	$21.57 million	4.53	$12.14 million	$0.88	8.20
Ladder Capital	$390.29 million	2.75	$64.18 million	$0.80	10.64

Ladder Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Sunrise Realty Trust. Sunrise Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ladder Capital, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Sunrise Realty Trust and Ladder Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sunrise Realty Trust	49.15%	7.78%	4.51%
Ladder Capital	23.70%	6.98%	1.81%

About Sunrise Realty Trust

Sunrise Realty Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust focused on commercial real estate finance. The company originates, acquires and manages loans and other debt investments secured by commercial properties. Its financing is intended for real estate owners and developers, including borrowers seeking capital for property acquisitions, refinancing or business plans that may involve repositioning or improving a property. Sunrise Realty Trust focuses on commercial real estate opportunities in the United States.

About Ladder Capital

Ladder Capital Corp. is a commercial real estate finance company organized as a real estate investment trust. It originates and invests in loans and other assets tied to commercial properties, with a focus on first mortgage loans secured by real estate. The company also invests in commercial mortgage-backed securities and U.S. government securities, and owns commercial real estate. Its lending and investment activities span property types and markets across the United States. Founded in 2008, Ladder Capital is headquartered in New York.