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:

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) is the #1 top mortgage stock out of 15 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: D, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) has a Due Diligence Score of 34, which is 12 points higher than the mortgage industry average of 22.

ECPG passed 12 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Encore Capital Group has seen its stock return 126.42% over the past year, overperforming other mortgage stocks by 153 percentage points.

Encore Capital Group has an average 1 year price target of $125.67, an upside of 14.39% from Encore Capital Group's current stock price of $109.86.

Encore Capital Group stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Encore Capital Group, 33.33% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 66.67% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Greystone Housing Impact Investors (NYSE:GHI) is the #2 top mortgage stock out of 15 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 Greystone Housing Impact Investors (NYSE:GHI) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: D.

Greystone Housing Impact Investors (NYSE:GHI) has a Due Diligence Score of 12, which is -10 points lower than the mortgage industry average of 22.

GHI passed 4 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Greystone Housing Impact Investors has seen its stock lose -41.16% over the past year, underperforming other mortgage stocks by -14 percentage points.

Greystone Housing Impact Investors has an average 1 year price target of $6.00, an upside of 47.78% from Greystone Housing Impact Investors's current stock price of $4.06.

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

Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA) is the #3 top mortgage stock out of 15 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: D, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: A.

Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA) has a Due Diligence Score of 27, which is 5 points higher than the mortgage industry average of 22.

SNFCA passed 11 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Security National Financial has seen its stock return 15.56% over the past year, overperforming other mortgage stocks by 42 percentage points.

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

Greystone Housing Impact Investors (NYSE:GHI) has an annual dividend yield of 16.5%, which is 4 percentage points higher than the mortgage industry average of 12.28%. 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 -209.4% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) has an annual dividend yield of 7.02%, which is -5 percentage points lower than the mortgage industry average of 12.28%. 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 -271% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Pennymac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) has an annual dividend yield of 1.98%, which is -10 percentage points lower than the mortgage industry average of 12.28%. Pennymac Financial Services's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Pennymac Financial Services's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Pennymac Financial Services's dividend payout ratio of 26.1% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Mortgage stocks were down -2.18% in the last day, and down -10.23% over the last week.

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

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:

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) 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.

Encore Capital Group has a valuation score of 29, which is 10 points higher than the mortgage industry average of 19. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Encore Capital Group's stock has gained 126.42% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage industry by 153 percentage points.

Velocity Financial (NYSE:VEL) 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.

Velocity Financial has a valuation score of 43, which is 24 points higher than the mortgage industry average of 19. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Velocity Financial's stock has dropped -12.35% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage industry by 14 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 10 points higher than the mortgage industry average of 19. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Security National Financial's stock has gained 15.56% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage industry by 42 percentage points.

40% of mortgage stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect mortgage stocks to rise by 28.76% over the next year.

0% of mortgage stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 9.09% of mortgage stocks are rated B (Buy), 45.45% are rated C (Hold), 36.36% are rated D (Sell), and 9.09% are rated F (Strong Sell).