Financial Comparison: CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW) versus Dynex Capital (NYSE:DX)

Dynex Capital (NYSE:DX) and CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Dynex Capital and CoreCivic’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dynex Capital	35.65%	-2.24%	-0.30%
CoreCivic	3.51%	5.97%	2.97%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Dynex Capital and CoreCivic, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dynex Capital	0	1	3	0	2.75
CoreCivic	0	0	3	0	3.00

Dynex Capital presently has a consensus price target of $13.33, suggesting a potential upside of 14.22%. CoreCivic has a consensus price target of $31.00, suggesting a potential upside of 39.86%. Given CoreCivic’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe CoreCivic is more favorable than Dynex Capital.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

38.3% of Dynex Capital shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.1% of CoreCivic shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Dynex Capital shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of CoreCivic shares are owned by company 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.

Dividends

Dynex Capital pays an annual dividend of $2.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 17.5%. CoreCivic pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.9%. Dynex Capital pays out 138.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. CoreCivic pays out 288.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Dynex Capital is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

Dynex Capital has a beta of 1.14, indicating that its share price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CoreCivic has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Dynex Capital and CoreCivic”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dynex Capital	$150.40 million	7.47	$113.90 million	$1.47	7.94
CoreCivic	$1.96 billion	1.24	$68.87 million	$0.61	36.34

Dynex Capital has higher earnings, but lower revenue than CoreCivic. Dynex Capital is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CoreCivic, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

CoreCivic beats Dynex Capital on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Dynex Capital

Dynex Capital, Inc., a mortgage real estate investment trust, invests in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) on a leveraged basis in the United States. It invests in agency and non-agency MBS consisting of residential MBS, commercial MBS (CMBS), and CMBS interest-only securities. Agency MBS have a guaranty of principal payment by an agency of the U.S. government or a U.S. government-sponsored entity, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Non-Agency MBS have no such guaranty of payment. The company has qualified as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It generally would not be subject to federal income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders as dividends. Dynex Capital, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Glen Allen, Virginia.

About CoreCivic

CoreCivic, Inc. owns and operates partnership correctional, detention, and residential reentry facilities in the United States. It operates through three segments: CoreCivic Safety, CoreCivic Community, and CoreCivic Properties. The company provides a range of solutions to government partners that serve the public good through corrections and detention management, a network of residential reentry centers to help address America’s recidivism crisis, and government real estate solutions. Its correctional, detention, and residential reentry facilities offer rehabilitation and educational programs, including basic education, faith-based services, life skills and employment training, and substance abuse treatment. The company owns and operates correctional and detention facilities, residential reentry centers, and properties for lease. CoreCivic, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in Brentwood, Tennessee.