Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance (NASDAQ:REFI – Get Free Report) and Farmland Partners (NYSE:FPI – Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, profitability and earnings.
Profitability
This table compares Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance and Farmland Partners’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance | 63.27% | 13.29% | 10.10% |
| Farmland Partners | 36.89% | 3.97% | 2.01% |
Risk and Volatility
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance has a beta of 0.2, suggesting that its share price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Farmland Partners has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance | $57.15 million | 5.54 | $38.71 million | $1.99 | 8.11 |
| Farmland Partners | $56.65 million | 8.94 | $30.91 million | $0.51 | 20.61 |
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance has higher revenue and earnings than Farmland Partners. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Farmland Partners, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance and Farmland Partners, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.50 |
| Farmland Partners | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.00 |
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance presently has a consensus price target of $20.00, suggesting a potential upside of 23.92%. Farmland Partners has a consensus price target of $15.00, suggesting a potential upside of 42.72%. Given Farmland Partners’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Farmland Partners is more favorable than Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
25.5% of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.0% of Farmland Partners shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.3% of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.3% of Farmland Partners shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Dividends
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.6%. Farmland Partners pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance pays out 94.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Farmland Partners pays out 47.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Farmland Partners has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.
Summary
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance beats Farmland Partners on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc. operates as a commercial real estate finance company in the United States. The company engages in originating, structuring, and investing in first mortgage loans and alternative structured financings secured by commercial real estate properties. Its portfolio primarily includes offers senior loans to state-licensed operators in the cannabis industry. The company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) and would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc. was incorporated in 2021 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
About Farmland Partners
Farmland Partners Inc. is an internally managed real estate company that owns and seeks to acquire high-quality North American farmland and makes loans to farmers secured by farm real estate. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owns and/or manages approximately 171,100 acres in 16 states, including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. In addition, the Company owns land and buildings for four agriculture equipment dealerships in Ohio leased to Ag Pro under the John Deere brand. The Company has approximately 26 crop types and over 100 tenants. The Company elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, commencing with the taxable year ended December 31, 2014.
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