Financial Comparison: Power REIT (NYSE:PW) and Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT)

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) and Power REIT (NYSE:PW) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, risk and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Power REIT has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

59.9% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 14.6% of Power REIT shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 26.7% of Power REIT shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Franklin BSP Realty Trust and Power REIT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	45.58%	8.92%	1.89%
Power REIT	-752.26%	-215.55%	-39.65%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Franklin BSP Realty Trust and Power REIT, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	0	0	4	1	3.20
Power REIT	0	0	0	0	0.00

Franklin BSP Realty Trust currently has a consensus price target of $15.50, indicating a potential upside of 25.71%. Given Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Franklin BSP Realty Trust is more favorable than Power REIT.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Franklin BSP Realty Trust and Power REIT”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Franklin BSP Realty Trust	$548.44 million	1.84	$145.21 million	$0.82	15.04
Power REIT	$3.15 million	1.43	-$14.37 million	($7.08)	-0.19

Franklin BSP Realty Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Power REIT. Power REIT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Franklin BSP Realty Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Franklin BSP Realty Trust beats Power REIT on 14 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Franklin BSP Realty Trust

Benefit Street Partners operates as a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). BSP earns income from investing in a leveraged portfolio of residential mortgage pass-through securities consisting almost exclusively of adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) securities issued and guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises, either Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (together, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)), or by an agency of the federal government, Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae). BSP’s investment strategy focuses on managing a portfolio of residential mortgage investments consisting almost exclusively of ARM Agency Securities. As of December 31, 2012, the Company’s securities consisted of Agency Securities classified as available-for-sale and Residential mortgage securities classified as held-to-maturity.

About Power REIT

Power REIT, with a focus on the Triple Bottom Line and a commitment to Profit, Planet and People is a specialized real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns sustainable real estate related to infrastructure assets including properties for Controlled Environment Agriculture, Renewable Energy and Transportation. Power REIT is actively seeking to expand its real estate portfolio related to Controlled Environment Agriculture in the form of greenhouses for the cultivation of food and cannabis.