Comparing Lument Finance Trust (NYSE:LFT) & Argo Blockchain (NASDAQ:ARBK)

Lument Finance Trust (NYSE:LFT) and Argo Blockchain (NASDAQ:ARBK) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

19.5% of Lument Finance Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.4% of Argo Blockchain shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.8% of Lument Finance Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Lument Finance Trust and Argo Blockchain, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lument Finance Trust	1	1	0	0	1.50
Argo Blockchain	1	1	0	0	1.50

Volatility & Risk

Lument Finance Trust has a beta of 0.71, meaning that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Argo Blockchain has a beta of 1.92, meaning that its stock price is 92% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lument Finance Trust and Argo Blockchain”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lument Finance Trust	$24.61 million	3.01	$22.65 million	$0.10	14.15
Argo Blockchain	$47.02 million	0.03	-$55.10 million	($210.87)	-0.02

Lument Finance Trust has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Argo Blockchain. Argo Blockchain is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lument Finance Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Lument Finance Trust and Argo Blockchain’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lument Finance Trust	11.19%	10.20%	1.73%
Argo Blockchain	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Lument Finance Trust beats Argo Blockchain on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lument Finance Trust

Lument Finance Trust, Inc., a real estate investment trust, focuses on investing in, financing, and managing a portfolio of commercial real estate (CRE) debt investments in the United States. The company primarily invests in transitional floating rate CRE mortgage loans on middle market multi-family assets; and other CRE -related investments, including mezzanine loans, preferred equity, commercial mortgage-backed securities, fixed rate loans, construction loans, and other CRE debt instruments. Lument Finance Trust, Inc. is qualified as a real estate investment trust (REIT) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. As a REIT, it would not be subject to federal income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was formerly known as Hunt Companies Finance Trust, Inc. and changed its name to Lument Finance Trust, Inc. in December 2020. Lument Finance Trust, Inc. was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Argo Blockchain

Argo Blockchain plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies mining business worldwide. It engages in mining purpose-built computers for complex cryptographic algorithms. The company was formerly known as GoSun Blockchain Limited and changed its name to Argo Blockchain plc in December 2017. Argo Blockchain plc was incorporated in 2017 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.