Critical Analysis: Impac Mortgage (NYSE:IMH) & Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT)

Impac Mortgage (NYSE:IMH) and Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Impac Mortgage has a beta of 0.9, suggesting that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Independence Realty Trust has a beta of 1.21, suggesting that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

12.5% of Impac Mortgage shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.3% of Independence Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 2.8% of Impac Mortgage shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Independence Realty Trust shares are held by 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Impac Mortgage and Independence Realty Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Impac Mortgage	0	0	0	0	0.00
Independence Realty Trust	0	2	5	0	2.71

Independence Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $20.86, indicating a potential upside of 4.70%. Given Independence Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Independence Realty Trust is more favorable than Impac Mortgage.

Profitability

This table compares Impac Mortgage and Independence Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Impac Mortgage	N/A	-1,309.14%	-37.12%
Independence Realty Trust	-0.03%	-0.01%	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Impac Mortgage and Independence Realty Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Impac Mortgage	$8.60 million	0.13	-$39.43 million	($1.71)	-0.02
Independence Realty Trust	$660.98 million	6.78	-$17.23 million	N/A	N/A

Independence Realty Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Impac Mortgage.

Summary

Independence Realty Trust beats Impac Mortgage on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Impac Mortgage

Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. engages in the provision of mortgage and real estate solutions. It operates through the following segments: Mortgage Lending, Real Estate Services, and Long-Term Mortgage Portfolio. The Mortgage Lending segment offers mortgage lending products through lending channels, retail, wholesale, and correspondent, and retains mortgage servicing rights and warehouse lending facilities. The Real Estate Services segment performs servicing and provides loss mitigation services for securitized long-term mortgage portfolio. The Long-Term Mortgage Portfolio segment is composed of residual interests in securitization trusts. The company was founded by Joseph R. Tomkinson in August 1995 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA.

About Independence Realty Trust

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: IRT) is a real estate investment trust that owns and operates multifamily communities, across non-gateway U.S. markets including Atlanta, GA, Dallas, TX, Denver, CO, Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, IN, Raleigh-Durham, NC, Oklahoma City, OK, Nashville, TN, Houston, TX, and Tampa, FL. IRT’s investment strategy is focused on gaining scale near major employment centers within key amenity rich submarkets that offer good school districts and high-quality retail. IRT aims to provide stockholders attractive risk-adjusted returns through diligent portfolio management, strong operational performance, and a consistent return on capital through distributions and capital appreciation.