Head to Head Review: Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) & AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNCL)

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) and AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNCL) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance and AGNC Investment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance	55.49%	7.39%	1.58%
AGNC Investment	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance and AGNC Investment”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance	$271.59 million	3.25	$126.72 million	$0.80	8.59
AGNC Investment	$2.40 billion	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has higher earnings, but lower revenue than AGNC Investment.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance and AGNC Investment, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance	1	3	2	0	2.17
AGNC Investment	0	0	0	0	0.00

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance currently has a consensus price target of $11.33, indicating a potential upside of 64.85%. Given Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance is more favorable than AGNC Investment.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

54.4% of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 14.5%. AGNC Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.94 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.7%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance pays out 125.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance beats AGNC Investment on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that originates, acquires, invests in, and manages commercial first mortgage loans, subordinate financings, and other commercial real estate-related debt investments in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. It is qualified as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code. As a REIT, it would not be subject to federal income taxes, if the company distributes at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to its stockholders. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is based in New York, New York.

About AGNC Investment

AGNC Investment Corp. provides private capital to housing market in the United States. It invests in residential mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations for which the principal and interest payments are guaranteed by the United States government-sponsored enterprise or by the United States government agency. 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. The company was formerly known as American Capital Agency Corp. and changed its name to AGNC Investment Corp. in September 2016. AGNC Investment Corp. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.