Sectors & IndustriesReal EstateREIT - 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:

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) is the #1 top mortgage reit stock out of 38 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 Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: D, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: D, and AI: C.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) has a Due Diligence Score of 22, which is -7 points lower than the mortgage reit industry average of 29.

RWT passed 8 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Redwood Trust has seen its stock lose -23.26% over the past year, underperforming other mortgage reit stocks by -9 percentage points.

Redwood Trust has an average 1 year price target of $5.94, an upside of 28.53% from Redwood Trust's current stock price of $4.62.

Redwood Trust stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 8 analysts covering Redwood Trust, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 25% have issued a Buy, 25% 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 38 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: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Rithm Capital (NYSE:RITM) has a Due Diligence Score of 35, which is 6 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 29.

RITM passed 13 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Rithm Capital has seen its stock lose -17.92% over the past year, underperforming other mortgage reit stocks by -3 percentage points.

Rithm Capital has an average 1 year price target of $13.35, an upside of 32.44% from Rithm Capital's current stock price of $10.08.

Rithm Capital stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 10 analysts covering Rithm Capital, 60% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 40% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Ellington Credit Co (NYSE:EARN) is the #3 top mortgage reit stock out of 38 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 Ellington Credit Co (NYSE:EARN) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: D, Sentiment: D, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Ellington Credit Co (NYSE:EARN) has a Due Diligence Score of 29, which is equal to the mortgage reit industry average of 29.

EARN passed 11 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Ellington Credit Co has seen its stock lose -24.49% over the past year, underperforming other mortgage reit stocks by -10 percentage points.

Ellington Credit Co has an average 1 year price target of $5.00, an upside of 12.61% from Ellington Credit Co's current stock price of $4.44.

Ellington Credit Co stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Ellington Credit Co, 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.

Out of 35 mortgage reit stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 mortgage reit stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Invesco Mortgage Capital (NYSE:IVR) has an annual dividend yield of 22.55%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 14.11%. Invesco Mortgage Capital's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% five times in the last 10 years. Invesco Mortgage Capital's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Invesco Mortgage Capital's dividend payout ratio of 102% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Lument Finance Trust (NYSE:LFT) has an annual dividend yield of 21.56%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 14.11%. Lument Finance Trust's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% eight times in the last 10 years. Lument Finance Trust's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Lument Finance Trust's dividend payout ratio of -44.4% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Ellington Credit Co (NYSE:EARN) has an annual dividend yield of 19.82%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 14.11%. Ellington Credit Co's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% three times in the last 10 years. Ellington Credit Co's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Ellington Credit Co's dividend payout ratio of -564.7% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Mortgage reit stocks were down -0.27% in the last day, and down -1.13% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why mortgage reit 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 reit stocks right now are:

Orchid Island Capital (NYSE:ORC) 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.

Orchid Island Capital has a valuation score of 29, which is -6 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 35. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates ORC a Valuation Rating of "B".

Orchid Island Capital's stock has dropped -5.37% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage reit industry by 9 percentage points.

Ellington Financial (NYSE:EFC) 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.

Ellington Financial has a valuation score of 43, which is 8 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 35. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Ellington Financial's stock has dropped -1.31% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage reit industry by 13 percentage points.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY) 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.

Annaly Capital Management has a valuation score of 29, which is -6 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 35. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates NLY a Valuation Rating of "B".

Annaly Capital Management's stock has gained 9.77% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage reit industry by 24 percentage points.

39.39% of mortgage reit stocks rated by analysts are a hold right now. On average, analysts expect mortgage reit stocks to rise by 14.97% 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), 51.52% are rated C (Hold), 36.36% are rated D (Sell), and 12.12% are rated F (Strong Sell).