CBL & Associates Properties (OTCMKTS:CBLAQ) versus MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) Financial Comparison

CBL & Associates Properties (OTCMKTS:CBLAQ) and MFA Financial (NYSE:MFA) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, valuation and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares CBL & Associates Properties and MFA Financial’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CBL & Associates Properties	$563.01 million	N/A	-$93.48 million	N/A	N/A
MFA Financial	$482.42 million	2.06	-$231.58 million	($0.36)	-27.11

CBL & Associates Properties has higher revenue and earnings than MFA Financial.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

57.8% of MFA Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 20.1% of CBL & Associates Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of MFA Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for CBL & Associates Properties and MFA Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CBL & Associates Properties	0	0	0	0	N/A
MFA Financial	0	1	3	0	2.75

MFA Financial has a consensus target price of $12.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.95%. Given MFA Financial’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe MFA Financial is more favorable than CBL & Associates Properties.

Profitability

This table compares CBL & Associates Properties and MFA Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CBL & Associates Properties	-5.42%	-9.30%	-1.33%
MFA Financial	-0.27%	4.11%	0.87%

Summary

MFA Financial beats CBL & Associates Properties on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About CBL & Associates Properties

CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which owns and operates retail properties. The firm engages in owning, developing, acquiring, leasing, managing and operating regional shopping malls, open-air centers, community centers and office properties. It operates through Malls and All Other segments. Its properties include Malls, Associated Centers, Community Centers, Office Buildings, Construction Properties and Mortgages. The company was founded on July 13, 1993 and is headquartered in Chattanooga, TN.

About MFA Financial

MFA Financial, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate investment trust in the United States. The company invests in residential mortgage assets, including non-agency mortgage-backed securities, agency MBS, and credit risk transfer securities; residential whole loans, including purchased performing loans, purchased credit deteriorated, and non-performing loans; and mortgage servicing rights related assets. MFA Financial, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is based in New York, New York.