Sectors & IndustriesFinancial ServicesREIT - Mortgage

Best Mortgage REIT Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top mortgage reit stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +28.50% per year, and are the best mortgage reit stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best mortgage reit stocks to buy right now are:

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) is the #1 top mortgage reit stock out of 36 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +5.11% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: D, Sentiment: B, Safety: D, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) has a Due Diligence Score of 18, which is -10 points lower than the mortgage reit industry average of 28.

ACRE passed 6 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Ares Commercial Real Estate has seen its stock lose -23.46% over the past year, overperforming other mortgage reit stocks by 9 percentage points.

Ares Commercial Real Estate has an average 1 year price target of $5.00, an upside of 48.81% from Ares Commercial Real Estate's current stock price of $3.36.

Ares Commercial Real Estate stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Ares Commercial Real Estate, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 25% have issued a Buy, 75% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Rithm Capital (NYSE:RITM) is the #2 top mortgage reit stock out of 36 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +5.11% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Rithm Capital (NYSE:RITM) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Rithm Capital (NYSE:RITM) has a Due Diligence Score of 39, which is 11 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 28.

RITM passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Rithm Capital has seen its stock lose -16.71% over the past year, overperforming other mortgage reit stocks by 15 percentage points.

Rithm Capital has an average 1 year price target of $12.50, an upside of 35.57% from Rithm Capital's current stock price of $9.22.

Rithm Capital stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 6 analysts covering Rithm Capital, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 50% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) is the #3 top mortgage reit stock out of 36 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +5.11% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Ladder Capital (NYSE:LADR) has a Due Diligence Score of 42, which is 14 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 28.

LADR passed 16 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Ladder Capital has seen its stock lose -13.98% over the past year, overperforming other mortgage reit stocks by 18 percentage points.

Ladder Capital has an average 1 year price target of $10.25, an upside of 12.51% from Ladder Capital's current stock price of $9.11.

Ladder Capital stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Ladder Capital, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 100% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 33 mortgage reit stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 mortgage reit stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) has an annual dividend yield of 190.87%, which is 167 percentage points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 23.62%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% three times in the last 10 years. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's dividend payout ratio of 562.5% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Arbor Realty Trust (NYSE:ABR) has an annual dividend yield of 53.71%, which is 30 percentage points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 23.62%. Arbor Realty Trust's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% three times in the last 10 years. Arbor Realty Trust's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Arbor Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio of -149.2% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust (NYSE:GPMT) has an annual dividend yield of 36.04%, which is 12 percentage points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 23.62%. Granite Point Mortgage Trust's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% six times in the last 10 years. Granite Point Mortgage Trust's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Granite Point Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio of -10% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Mortgage reit stocks were down -1.49% in the last day, and down -4.3% over the last week. Angel Oak Mortgage Reit was the among the top losers in the reit - mortgage industry, dropping -12.17% yesterday.

Angel Oak Mortgage REIT shares are trading lower after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 financial results

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued mortgage reit stocks right now are:

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) is the most undervalued mortgage reit stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Ellington Financial has a valuation score of 57, which is 20 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 37. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Ellington Financial's stock has dropped -15.88% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage reit industry by 16 percentage points.

Invesco Mortgage Capital (NYSE:IVR) is the second most undervalued mortgage reit stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Invesco Mortgage Capital has a valuation score of 71, which is 34 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 37. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Invesco Mortgage Capital's stock has dropped -29.58% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage reit industry by 3 percentage points.

Sunrise Realty Trust (NASDAQ:SUNS) is the third most undervalued mortgage reit stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Sunrise Realty Trust has a valuation score of 71, which is 34 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 37. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Sunrise Realty Trust's stock has dropped -29.41% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage reit industry by 3 percentage points.

30.3% of mortgage reit stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect mortgage reit stocks to rise by 37.7% over the next year.

0% of mortgage reit stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 0% of mortgage reit stocks are rated B (Buy), 46.88% are rated C (Hold), 37.5% are rated D (Sell), and 15.63% are rated F (Strong Sell).