DigitalBridge Group (NYSE:DBRG) vs. Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) Financial Survey

DigitalBridge Group (NYSE:DBRG) and Ellington Credit (NYSE:EARN) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares DigitalBridge Group and Ellington Credit’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DigitalBridge Group	N/A	3.89%	1.86%
Ellington Credit	-75.00%	16.47%	3.87%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.7% of DigitalBridge Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 20.4% of Ellington Credit shares are held by institutional investors. 3.4% of DigitalBridge Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Ellington Credit shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

DigitalBridge Group pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Ellington Credit pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 20.5%. DigitalBridge Group pays out 8.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ellington Credit pays out -92.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Ellington Credit is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for DigitalBridge Group and Ellington Credit, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DigitalBridge Group	1	7	1	0	2.00
Ellington Credit	0	1	1	0	2.50

DigitalBridge Group presently has a consensus price target of $16.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.14%. Ellington Credit has a consensus price target of $5.75, indicating a potential upside of 22.99%. Given Ellington Credit’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ellington Credit is more favorable than DigitalBridge Group.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares DigitalBridge Group and Ellington Credit”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DigitalBridge Group	$374.45 million	7.63	$141.87 million	$0.49	31.97
Ellington Credit	$51.80 million	3.39	-$38.85 million	($1.04)	-4.50

DigitalBridge Group has higher revenue and earnings than Ellington Credit. Ellington Credit is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than DigitalBridge Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk and Volatility

DigitalBridge Group has a beta of 1.48, indicating that its stock price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ellington Credit has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

DigitalBridge Group beats Ellington Credit on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About DigitalBridge Group

DigitalBridge is an infrastructure investment firm specializing in digital infrastructure assets. They provide services to institutional investors. They primarily invest in data centers, cell towers, fiber networks, small cells, and edge infrastructure. DigitalBridge Group, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida with additional offices in Los Angles, California, and New York New York.

About Ellington Credit

Ellington Credit Company, a real estate investment trust, acquires, invests in, and manages residential mortgage-and real estate-related assets. It acquires and manages residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), including agency pools and agency collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs); and non-agency RMBS, such as non-agency CMOs, such as investment grade and non-investment grade. The company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust. As a result, it would not be subject to corporate income tax on that portion of its net income that is distributed to shareholders. The company was formerly known as Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT and changed its name to Ellington Credit Company in April 2024. Ellington Credit Company was incorporated in 2012 and is based in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.