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 +32.52% 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 14 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +7.53% per year. Learn more.

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

Encore Capital Group (NASDAQ:ECPG) has a Due Diligence Score of 31, which is 5 points higher than the mortgage industry average of 26.

ECPG passed 11 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Encore Capital Group has seen its stock return 101.51% over the past year, overperforming other mortgage stocks by 97 percentage points.

Encore Capital Group has an average 1 year price target of $106.50, an upside of 30.5% from Encore Capital Group's current stock price of $81.61.

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.

Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA) 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 +7.53% 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: B.

Security National Financial (NASDAQ:SNFCA) has a Due Diligence Score of 23, which is -3 points lower than the mortgage industry average of 26.

SNFCA passed 10 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Security National Financial has seen its stock lose -6.14% over the past year, underperforming other mortgage stocks by -11 percentage points.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) 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 +7.53% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: D, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) has a Due Diligence Score of 32, which is 6 points higher than the mortgage industry average of 26.

WD passed 12 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Walker & Dunlop has seen its stock lose -27.36% over the past year, underperforming other mortgage stocks by -32 percentage points.

Walker & Dunlop has an average 1 year price target of $70.33, an upside of 27.46% from Walker & Dunlop's current stock price of $55.18.

Walker & Dunlop stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Walker & Dunlop, 66.67% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 33.33% 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 4 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 19.04%, which is 10 percentage points higher than the mortgage industry average of 9.01%. 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.

Uwm Holdings (NYSE:UWMC) has an annual dividend yield of 12.31%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the mortgage industry average of 9.01%. 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.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) has an annual dividend yield of 3.66%, which is -5 percentage points lower than the mortgage industry average of 9.01%. 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 dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Mortgage stocks were down -0.02% in the last day, and down -3.4% 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 4 points higher than the mortgage industry average of 25. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Encore Capital Group's stock has gained 101.51% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage industry by 97 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 18 points higher than the mortgage industry average of 25. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Velocity Financial's stock has gained 5.65% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage industry by 1 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 4 points higher than the mortgage industry average of 25. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Security National Financial's stock has dropped -6.14% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the mortgage industry by -11 percentage points.

80% of mortgage stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect mortgage stocks to rise by 38.72% over the next year.

0% of mortgage stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 0% of mortgage stocks are rated B (Buy), 81.82% are rated C (Hold), 9.09% are rated D (Sell), and 9.09% are rated F (Strong Sell).