TPG RE Finance Trust (NYSE:TRTX) vs. Douglas Elliman (NYSE:DOUG) Critical Review

Douglas Elliman (NYSE:DOUG) and TPG RE Finance Trust (NYSE:TRTX) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability and earnings.

Dividends

Douglas Elliman pays an annual dividend of $0.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. TPG RE Finance Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.9%. Douglas Elliman pays out -7.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. TPG RE Finance Trust pays out 147.7% 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 Douglas Elliman and TPG RE Finance Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Douglas Elliman	-5.76%	-3.19%	-0.93%
TPG RE Finance Trust	20.46%	6.37%	1.76%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

59.6% of Douglas Elliman shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.1% of TPG RE Finance Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 6.8% of Douglas Elliman shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.0% of TPG RE Finance Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Douglas Elliman and TPG RE Finance Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Douglas Elliman	$1.03 billion	0.22	-$76.32 million	($0.70)	-3.59
TPG RE Finance Trust	$150.66 million	4.59	$74.33 million	$0.65	13.61

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

Volatility & Risk

Douglas Elliman has a beta of 1.76, meaning that its stock price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, TPG RE Finance Trust has a beta of 1.53, meaning that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Douglas Elliman and TPG RE Finance Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Douglas Elliman	1	0	0	0	1.00
TPG RE Finance Trust	1	4	2	0	2.14

TPG RE Finance Trust has a consensus target price of $10.75, indicating a potential upside of 21.54%. Given TPG RE Finance Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe TPG RE Finance Trust is more favorable than Douglas Elliman.

Summary

TPG RE Finance Trust beats Douglas Elliman on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Douglas Elliman

Douglas Elliman Inc. owns Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC, operating as a residential brokerage company in the United States with operations in New York, Florida, California, Texas, Colorado, Nevada, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. In addition, Douglas Elliman sources, uses and invests in early-stage, disruptive property technology (“PropTech”) solutions and companies and provides other real estate services, including development marketing, property management and settlement and escrow services in select markets.

About TPG RE Finance Trust

TPG RE Finance Trust, Inc., a commercial real estate finance company, originates, acquires, and manages commercial mortgage loans and other commercial real estate-related debt instruments in the United States. It invests in commercial mortgage loans; subordinate mortgage interests, mezzanine loans, secured real estate securities, note financing, preferred equity, and miscellaneous debt instruments; and commercial real estate collateralized loan obligations and commercial mortgage-backed securities secured by properties primarily in the multifamily, life science, mixed-use, hospitality, self storage, industrial, and retail real estate sectors. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It generally would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. TPG RE Finance Trust, Inc. was incorporated in 2014 and is based in New York, New York.