KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (KREF) Competitors

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) and KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and profitability.

Which has more volatility and risk, ACRE or KREF?

Ares Commercial Real Estate has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ACRE or KREF more profitable?

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a net margin of 6.42% compared to Ares Commercial Real Estate's net margin of -20.22%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust's return on equity of 5.90% beat Ares Commercial Real Estate's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ares Commercial Real Estate	-20.22%	-1.51%	-0.46%
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust	6.42%	5.90%	1.24%

Which has higher earnings & valuation, ACRE or KREF?

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Ares Commercial Real Estate. Ares Commercial Real Estate is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than KKR Real Estate Finance Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ares Commercial Real Estate	$25.75M	9.64	-$34.99M	-$0.25	-18.06
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust	$564.63M	1.07	$35.59M	$0.16	55.72

Do analysts rate ACRE or KREF?

Ares Commercial Real Estate currently has a consensus price target of $5.58, indicating a potential upside of 23.48%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a consensus price target of $11.95, indicating a potential upside of 34.04%. Given KKR Real Estate Finance Trust's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe KKR Real Estate Finance Trust is more favorable than Ares Commercial Real Estate.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ares Commercial Real Estate	1 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.80
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.80

Do institutionals & insiders believe in ACRE or KREF?

41.3% of Ares Commercial Real Estate shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.2% of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of Ares Commercial Real Estate shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is ACRE or KREF a better dividend stock?

Ares Commercial Real Estate pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.3%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.2%. Ares Commercial Real Estate pays out -240.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust pays out 625.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Ares Commercial Real Estate is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media prefer ACRE or KREF?

In the previous week, KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had 5 more articles in the media than Ares Commercial Real Estate. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for KKR Real Estate Finance Trust and 0 mentions for Ares Commercial Real Estate. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.23 beat Ares Commercial Real Estate's score of 0.00 indicating that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Ares Commercial Real Estate	Neutral
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust	Positive

Summary

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust beats Ares Commercial Real Estate on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.