Head to Head Review: Impac Mortgage (NYSE:IMH) & Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT)

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) and Impac Mortgage (NYSE:IMH) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

Independence Realty Trust has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its share price is 21% 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Independence Realty Trust and Impac Mortgage, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Independence Realty Trust	0	2	5	0	2.71
Impac Mortgage	0	0	0	0	0.00

Independence Realty Trust presently has a consensus price target of $20.86, indicating a potential upside of 4.70%. Given Independence Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Independence Realty Trust is more favorable than Impac Mortgage.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

88.3% of Independence Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 12.5% of Impac Mortgage shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Independence Realty 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, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Independence Realty Trust	-0.03%	-0.01%	N/A
Impac Mortgage	N/A	-1,309.14%	-37.12%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Independence Realty Trust and Impac Mortgage”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Independence Realty Trust	$660.98 million	6.78	-$17.23 million	N/A	N/A
Impac Mortgage	$8.60 million	0.13	-$39.43 million	($1.71)	-0.02

Independence Realty Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Impac Mortgage.

Summary

Independence Realty Trust beats Impac Mortgage on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Independence Realty Trust

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: IRT) is a real estate investment trust that owns and operates multifamily communities, across non-gateway U.S. markets including Atlanta, GA, Dallas, TX, Denver, CO, Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, IN, Raleigh-Durham, NC, Oklahoma City, OK, Nashville, TN, Houston, TX, and Tampa, FL. IRT’s investment strategy is focused on gaining scale near major employment centers within key amenity rich submarkets that offer good school districts and high-quality retail. IRT aims to provide stockholders attractive risk-adjusted returns through diligent portfolio management, strong operational performance, and a consistent return on capital through distributions and capital appreciation.

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.