Impac Mortgage (NYSE:IMH) versus Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE:CLDT) Critical Survey

Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE:CLDT) and Impac Mortgage (NYSE:IMH) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

Chatham Lodging Trust has a beta of 1.82, indicating that its share price is 82% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Impac Mortgage has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its share price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Chatham Lodging Trust and Impac Mortgage’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chatham Lodging Trust	-0.99%	-0.39%	-0.24%
Impac Mortgage	N/A	-1,309.14%	-37.12%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

88.4% of Chatham Lodging Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.5% of Impac Mortgage shares are held by institutional investors. 6.5% of Chatham Lodging Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Impac Mortgage shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Chatham Lodging Trust and Impac Mortgage”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chatham Lodging Trust	$314.38 million	1.43	$2.64 million	($0.23)	-39.87
Impac Mortgage	$8.60 million	0.17	-$39.43 million	($1.71)	-0.02

Chatham Lodging Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Impac Mortgage. Chatham Lodging Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Impac Mortgage, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Chatham Lodging Trust and Impac Mortgage, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chatham Lodging Trust	0	0	2	0	3.00
Impac Mortgage	0	0	0	0	0.00

Chatham Lodging Trust presently has a consensus target price of $12.00, suggesting a potential upside of 30.86%. Given Chatham Lodging Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Chatham Lodging Trust is more favorable than Impac Mortgage.

Summary

Chatham Lodging Trust beats Impac Mortgage on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chatham Lodging Trust

Chatham Lodging Trust is a self-advised, publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused primarily on investing in upscale, extended-stay hotels and premium-branded, select-service hotels. The company owns 39 hotels totaling 5,915 rooms/suites in 16 states and the District of Columbia.

About Impac Mortgage

Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. engages in the provision of mortgage and real estate solutions. It operates through the following segments: Mortgage Lending, Real Estate Services, and Long-Term Mortgage Portfolio. The Mortgage Lending segment offers mortgage lending products through lending channels, retail, wholesale, and correspondent, and retains mortgage servicing rights and warehouse lending facilities. The Real Estate Services segment performs servicing and provides loss mitigation services for securitized long-term mortgage portfolio. The Long-Term Mortgage Portfolio segment is composed of residual interests in securitization trusts. The company was founded by Joseph R. Tomkinson in August 1995 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA.