Critical Analysis: Millrose Properties (NYSE:MRP) vs. Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC)

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) and Millrose Properties (NYSE:MRP) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Ellington Financial and Millrose Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ellington Financial	0	1	3	1	3.00
Millrose Properties	0	0	0	1	4.00

Ellington Financial currently has a consensus target price of $14.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.54%. Millrose Properties has a consensus target price of $25.00, indicating a potential downside of 5.77%. Given Ellington Financial’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Ellington Financial is more favorable than Millrose Properties.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

55.6% of Ellington Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.4% of Ellington Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ellington Financial and Millrose Properties”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ellington Financial	$282.19 million	4.26	$84.81 million	$1.38	9.61
Millrose Properties	$434.01 million	9.83	N/A	N/A	N/A

Ellington Financial has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Millrose Properties.

Dividends

Ellington Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.8%. Millrose Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Ellington Financial pays out 113.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

This table compares Ellington Financial and Millrose Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ellington Financial	106.40%	10.26%	0.81%
Millrose Properties	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Ellington Financial beats Millrose Properties on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ellington Financial

Ellington Financial Inc., through its subsidiary, Ellington Financial Operating Partnership LLC, acquires and manages mortgage-related, consumer-related, corporate-related, and other financial assets in the United States. The company acquires and manages residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) backed by prime jumbo, Alt-A, manufactured housing, and subprime mortgage; RMBS for which the principal and interest payments are guaranteed by the U.S. government agency or the U.S. government-sponsored entity; residential mortgage loans; commercial mortgage-backed securities; and commercial mortgage loans and other commercial real estate debt. It also provides collateralized loan obligations; mortgage-related and non-mortgage-related derivatives; corporate debt and equity securities; corporate loans; and other strategic investments; and consumer loans and asset-backed securities backed by consumer and commercial assets. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust (REIT) for federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, it intends to distribute at least 90% of its taxable income as dividends to shareholders. Ellington Financial LLC was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.

About Millrose Properties

Millrose Properties, Inc. is a real estate investment and management company that focuses on acquiring, developing, and managing high-quality commercial properties. They are headquartered in Purchase, New York.