Which Is a Better Investment, Arbor Realty Trust Inc or Starwood Property Trust, Inc. Stock?

By Jenna Brashear
September 03, 2026
Large versus logo comparing two stocks in the same industry
Featured Tickers:

Sifting through countless of stocks in the Mortgage Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust and Inc.

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Commercial and Residential Lending; Infrastructure Lending; Property; and Investing and Servicing. The Commercial and Residential Lending segment originates, acquires, finances, and manages commercial first mortgages, non-agency residential mortgages, subordinated mortgages, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and residential mortgage-backed securities, as well as other real estate and real estate-related debt investments, including distressed or non-performing loans. Its Infrastructure Lending segment originates, acquires, finances, and manages infrastructure debt investments. The Property segment engages primarily in acquiring and managing equity interests in stabilized and to be stabilized commercial real estate properties, including multifamily properties, multi-tenant medical office net lease properties and diversified single-tenant triple net lease properties that are held for investment. Its Investing and Servicing segment manages and works out problem assets; acquires and manages unrated, investment grade, and non-investment grade rated CMBS comprising subordinated interests of securitization and re-securitization transactions; originates conduit loans for the primary purpose of selling these loans into securitization transactions; and acquires commercial real estate assets that include properties acquired from CMBS trusts. The company qualifies as a REIT for federal income tax purposes and would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. Starwood Property Trust, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Miami Beach, Florida.

Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. invests in a diversified portfolio of structured finance assets in the multifamily, single-family rental, and commercial real estate markets in the United States. It operates in two segments, Structured Business and Agency Business. The company invests in bridge and mezzanine loans, including junior participating interests in first mortgages, and preferred and direct equity, as well as real estate-related joint ventures, real estate-related notes, and various mortgage-related securities. It also offers bridge financing products to borrowers who seek short-term capital to be used in an acquisition of property; financing products to borrowers looking to develop, acquire or refinance conventional, workforce and affordable single-family rental (SFR) housing; multifamily investors short-term floating-rate financing for new and construction-ready multifamily projects; and mezzanine financing in the form of loans that are subordinate to a conventional first mortgage loan and senior to the borrower’s equity in a transaction. In addition, the company provides financing by making preferred equity investments in entities that directly or indirectly own real property that are subordinate to a first mortgage loan; and invest in structured transactions, which are primarily comprised of joint ventures formed to acquire, develop and/or sell real estate-related assets. Further, it underwrites, originates, sells, and services financing loans underwritten using similar guidelines of existing agency loans sold to the government-sponsored enterprises; and long-term permanent fixed rate loans on SFR properties. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It generally would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Uniondale, New York.

Latest Mortgage Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. Stock News

As of September 2, 2026, Starwood Property Trust, Inc. had a $5.9 billion market capitalization, compared to the Mortgage Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) median of $593.4 million. Starwood Property Trust, Inc.’s stock is down 12.5% in 2026, down 1.1% in the previous five trading days and down 21.29% in the past year.

Currently, Starwood Property Trust, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 26.5. Starwood Property Trust, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $597.3 million with a 38.2% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 13.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $1.527 per share for the current fiscal year. Starwood Property Trust, Inc. currently has a 12.1% dividend yield.

As of September 2, 2026, Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. had a $962.6 million market cap, putting it in the 44th percentile of all stocks. Arbor Realty Trust, Inc.’s stock is down 34.8% in 2026, up 0.6% in the previous five trading days and down 55.82% in the past year.

Currently, Arbor Realty Trust, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 61.4. Arbor Realty Trust, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $498.1 million with a 11.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -24.8%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $0.273 per share for the current fiscal year. Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. currently has a 13.2% dividend yield.

How We Compare Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

Learn more about A+ Investor here!

Sign Up to Receive a Free Special Report Showing How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Smarter Investment Decisions

Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust and Inc. Growth Grades

Company Ticker Growth
Starwood Property Trust, Inc. STWD F
Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. ABR C

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. has a Growth Score of 13, which is Very Weak. Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. has a Growth Score of 43, which is Average.

The Growth Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust or Inc. has a high enough Growth Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to sustainable growth.

Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company Ticker Quality
Starwood Property Trust, Inc. STWD D
Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. ABR D

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. has a Quality Score of 25, which is Weak. Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. has a Quality Score of 38, which is Weak.

The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust or Inc. has a high enough Quality Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to quality.

Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust and Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company Ticker Earnings Estimate
Starwood Property Trust, Inc. STWD F
Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. ABR D

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 17, which is Very Negative. Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 24, which is Negative.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust or Inc. has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.

Don’t Forget Your Free Special Report on How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Investment Decisions

Other Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust and Inc. Grades

In addition to Growth, Quality and Estimate Revisions, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Momentum.

AAII Platinum Banner

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Starwood Property Trust, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 13, Estimate Revisions Score of 17 and Quality Score of 25.

Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 43, Estimate Revisions Score of 24 and Quality Score of 38.

Comparing Starwood Property Trust, Inc., Arbor Realty Trust and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Learn More About A+ Investor

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



Find New Stock Opportunities With Included With AAII Platinum
O'Neil CAN SLIM Screen: 38.3% Compared to S&P 500
at only 23.3%

Since Inception. Data as of 12/31/2024.




Try AAII Platinum and get full access to
769.3% Stock Superstars Portfolio Total Return Since Inception
Compare to:
710.3% iShare DOW Jones
U.S. Index ETF (IYY)

SSR Group 3 O'Shaughnessy portfolio has a 411.2% gain since inception performance compared to IYY at only 119.1%% Performance as of 11/29/24.

Get your free copy of our special report analyzing the tech stocks most likely to outperform the market.

Download the FREE Report Here:

BECOME A MEMBER FOR ONLY $2

Get access to powerful investment discovery tools and a wealth of investment education to help you achieve your financial goals.