Sectors & IndustriesFinancial ServicesMortgage Finance

Best Mortgage Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top mortgage 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 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 finance stocks to buy right now are:

Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA) is the #1 top mortgage stock out of 14 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 Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: A.

Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA) has a Due Diligence Score of 21, which is -4 points lower than the mortgage industry average of 25.

SNFCA passed 9 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Security National Financial has seen its stock return 15.02% over the past year, overperforming other mortgage stocks by 17 percentage points.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) is the #2 top mortgage stock out of 14 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 Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) is: Value: B, Growth: D, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: D, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) has a Due Diligence Score of 31, which is 6 points higher than the mortgage industry average of 25.

ECPG passed 11 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Encore Capital Group has seen its stock return 154.06% over the past year, overperforming other mortgage stocks by 156 percentage points.

Encore Capital Group has an average 1 year price target of $113.50, an upside of 13.27% from Encore Capital Group's current stock price of $100.20.

Encore Capital Group stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Encore Capital Group, 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.

Velocity Financial (NYSE:VEL) is the #3 top mortgage stock out of 14 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 Velocity Financial (NYSE:VEL) is: Value: B, Growth: D, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Velocity Financial (NYSE:VEL) has a Due Diligence Score of 32, which is 7 points higher than the mortgage industry average of 25.

VEL passed 11 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Velocity Financial has seen its stock return 13.04% over the past year, overperforming other mortgage stocks by 15 percentage points.

Velocity Financial has an average 1 year price target of $21.88, an upside of 18.5% from Velocity Financial's current stock price of $18.46.

Velocity Financial stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Velocity Financial, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 25% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 25% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 4 mortgage stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 mortgage stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Uwm Holdings (NYSE:UWMC) has an annual dividend yield of 31.25%, which is 18 percentage points higher than the mortgage industry average of 12.95%. Uwm Holdings's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Uwm Holdings's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Uwm Holdings's dividend payout ratio of 142.9% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Greystone Housing Impact Investors (NYSE:GHI) has an annual dividend yield of 14.43%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the mortgage industry average of 12.95%. Greystone Housing Impact Investors's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% eight times in the last 10 years. Greystone Housing Impact Investors's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Greystone Housing Impact Investors's dividend payout ratio of -159.7% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) has an annual dividend yield of 4.57%, which is -8 percentage points lower than the mortgage industry average of 12.95%. Walker & Dunlop's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Walker & Dunlop's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Walker & Dunlop's dividend payout ratio of 131.9% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Mortgage stocks were up 1.41% in the last day, and down -0.41% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why mortgage stocks are up.

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 stocks right now are:

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

Velocity Financial has a valuation score of 29, which is 6 points higher than the mortgage industry average of 23. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Velocity Financial's stock has gained 13.04% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage industry by 15 percentage points.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) is the second most undervalued mortgage stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Encore Capital Group has a valuation score of 29, which is 6 points higher than the mortgage industry average of 23. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Encore Capital Group's stock has gained 154.06% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage industry by 156 percentage points.

Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA) is the third most undervalued mortgage stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Security National Financial has a valuation score of 29, which is 6 points higher than the mortgage industry average of 23. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Security National Financial's stock has gained 15.02% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage industry by 17 percentage points.

70% of mortgage stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect mortgage stocks to rise by 28.87% over the next year.

0% of mortgage stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 0% of mortgage stocks are rated B (Buy), 63.64% are rated C (Hold), 18.18% are rated D (Sell), and 18.18% are rated F (Strong Sell).