Financial Comparison: Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance (NASDAQ:REFI) & Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (NYSE:HASI)

Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (NYSE:HASI) and Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance (NASDAQ:REFI) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and valuation.

Risk and Volatility

Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital has a beta of 1.94, indicating that its stock price is 94% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance has a beta of 0.23, indicating that its stock price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital and Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital	$319.87 million	10.34	$148.84 million	$1.78	15.68
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance	$57.15 million	5.38	$38.71 million	$2.00	7.83

Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital has higher revenue and earnings than Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital and Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital	0	1	10	2	3.08
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance	0	0	2	1	3.33

Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital presently has a consensus target price of $40.50, indicating a potential upside of 45.07%. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance has a consensus target price of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 27.71%. Given Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital is more favorable than Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

96.1% of Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 25.5% of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.3% of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital and Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital	59.56%	11.53%	3.93%
Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance	64.57%	13.17%	10.10%

Dividends

Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital pays an annual dividend of $1.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.9%. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 12.0%. Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital pays out 93.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance pays out 94.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital beats Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital

Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the investment in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainable infrastructure markets in the United States. The company's portfolio includes equity investments, commercial and government receivables, real estate, and debt securities. It invests in climate solution, including Behind-the-Meter that distributes energy projects which reduce energy usage or cost through heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, as well as lighting, energy controls, roofs, windows, building shells, and/or combined heat and power systems; Grid-Connected, a renewable energy projects that deploy cleaner energy sources, such as solar, solar-plus-storage, and wind to generate power production; and Fuels, Transport, and Nature, a range of real assets spanning high-emitting economic sectors other than the power grid such as transportation and fuels comprising renewable natural gas plants, transportation fleet enhancements, ecological restoration, and other projects. Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Inc. was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland.

About Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc. operates as a commercial real estate finance company in the United States. The company engages in originating, structuring, and investing in first mortgage loans and alternative structured financings secured by commercial real estate properties. Its portfolio primarily includes offers senior loans to state-licensed operators in the cannabis industry. The company has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) and would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc. was incorporated in 2021 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.