Starwood Property Trust (STWD) Competitors

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) and Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, institutional ownership and valuation.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, STWD or ACRE?

Starwood Property 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 Starwood Property 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
Starwood Property Trust	$1.95B	3.75	$359.93M	$1.09	18.26
Ares Commercial Real Estate	$69.65M	3.47	-$34.99M	-$0.34	-12.93

Is STWD or ACRE a better dividend stock?

Starwood Property Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.6%. Ares Commercial Real Estate pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.7%. Starwood Property Trust pays out 176.1% 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 pays out -176.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ares Commercial Real Estate is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media prefer STWD or ACRE?

In the previous week, Starwood Property Trust had 11 more articles in the media than Ares Commercial Real Estate. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for Starwood Property Trust and 8 mentions for Ares Commercial Real Estate. Starwood Property Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.51 beat Ares Commercial Real Estate's score of -0.10 indicating that Starwood Property Trust is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Starwood Property Trust	15 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Ares Commercial Real Estate	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of STWD or ACRE?

49.8% of Starwood Property Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.3% of Ares Commercial Real Estate shares are held by institutional investors. 5.9% of Starwood Property Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Ares Commercial Real Estate shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate STWD or ACRE?

Starwood Property Trust presently has a consensus target price of $21.70, indicating a potential upside of 9.02%. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a consensus target price of $5.31, indicating a potential upside of 20.88%. Given Ares Commercial Real Estate's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ares Commercial Real Estate is more favorable than Starwood Property Trust.

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

Which has more volatility and risk, STWD or ACRE?

Starwood Property Trust has a beta of 1.26, indicating that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ares Commercial Real Estate has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its stock price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is STWD or ACRE more profitable?

Starwood Property Trust has a net margin of 20.58% compared to Ares Commercial Real Estate's net margin of -29.57%. Starwood Property Trust's return on equity of 8.72% beat Ares Commercial Real Estate's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Starwood Property Trust	20.58%	8.72%	0.94%
Ares Commercial Real Estate	-29.57%	-5.44%	-1.78%

Summary

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