Maui Land & Pineapple (MLP) Competitors

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) and Maui Land & Pineapple (NYSE:MLP) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Does the media favor EFC or MLP?

In the previous week, Ellington Financial had 19 more articles in the media than Maui Land & Pineapple. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for Ellington Financial and 3 mentions for Maui Land & Pineapple. Ellington Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.98 beat Maui Land & Pineapple's score of 0.00 indicating that Ellington Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ellington Financial	7 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Maui Land & Pineapple	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts recommend EFC or MLP?

Ellington Financial presently has a consensus target price of $14.29, indicating a potential upside of 3.64%. Given Ellington Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ellington Financial is more favorable than Maui Land & Pineapple.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ellington Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83
Maui Land & Pineapple	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in EFC or MLP?

55.6% of Ellington Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.6% of Maui Land & Pineapple shares are held by institutional investors. 4.1% of Ellington Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 65.9% of Maui Land & Pineapple shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, EFC or MLP?

Ellington Financial has a beta of 1, meaning that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Maui Land & Pineapple has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is EFC or MLP more profitable?

Ellington Financial has a net margin of 89.52% compared to Maui Land & Pineapple's net margin of -98.43%. Ellington Financial's return on equity of 13.56% beat Maui Land & Pineapple's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ellington Financial	89.52%	13.56%	1.07%
Maui Land & Pineapple	-98.43%	-45.76%	-31.65%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, EFC or MLP?

Ellington Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Maui Land & Pineapple. Maui Land & Pineapple is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ellington Financial, 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
Ellington Financial	$136.41M	10.10	$145.86M	$1.24	11.12
Maui Land & Pineapple	$11.56M	29.27	-$7.39M	-$0.75	-22.85

Summary

Ellington Financial beats Maui Land & Pineapple on 14 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.