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 +32.52% 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:

Rithm Capital (NYSE:RITM) is the #1 top mortgage reit stock out of 39 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

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

Rithm Capital (NYSE:RITM) has a Due Diligence Score of 35, which is 7 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 28.

RITM passed 13 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Rithm Capital has seen its stock lose -17.25% over the past year, underperforming other mortgage reit stocks by -3 percentage points.

Rithm Capital has an average 1 year price target of $14.90, an upside of 57.67% from Rithm Capital's current stock price of $9.45.

Rithm Capital stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 5 analysts covering Rithm Capital, 80% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 20% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) is the #2 top mortgage reit stock out of 39 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 Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: D, Financials: D, and AI: C.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) has a Due Diligence Score of 19, which is -9 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 return 3.4% over the past year, overperforming other mortgage reit stocks by 18 percentage points.

Ares Commercial Real Estate has an average 1 year price target of $5.33, an upside of 9.73% from Ares Commercial Real Estate's current stock price of $4.86.

Ares Commercial Real Estate stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Ares Commercial Real Estate, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 33.33% have issued a Buy, 33.33% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 33.33% have issued a Strong Sell.

Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment (NYSE:CHMI) is the #3 top mortgage reit stock out of 39 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 Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment (NYSE:CHMI) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment (NYSE:CHMI) has a Due Diligence Score of 14, which is -14 points lower than the mortgage reit industry average of 28.

CHMI passed 4 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment has seen its stock lose -24% over the past year, underperforming other mortgage reit stocks by -10 percentage points.

Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment has an average 1 year price target of $3.00, an upside of 12.78% from Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment's current stock price of $2.66.

Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment, 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 36 mortgage reit stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 mortgage reit stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Sachem Capital (NYSEMKT:SACH) has an annual dividend yield of 23.81%, which is 10 percentage points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 14.16%. Sachem Capital's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% four times in the last 10 years. Sachem Capital's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Sachem Capital's dividend payout ratio of -26% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Ready Capital (NYSE:RC) has an annual dividend yield of 22.13%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 14.16%. Ready Capital's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% ten times in the last 10 years. Ready Capital's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Ready Capital's dividend payout ratio of -26.7% 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 21.38%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 14.16%. Ellington Credit Co's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% four 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 -1.34% in the last day, and down -3.49% 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:

Rithm Capital (NYSE:RITM) 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.

Rithm Capital has a valuation score of 57, which is 24 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 33. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Rithm Capital's stock has dropped -17.25% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the mortgage reit industry by -3 percentage points.

Angel Oak Mortgage Reit (NYSE:AOMR) 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.

Angel Oak Mortgage Reit has a valuation score of 43, which is 10 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 33. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Angel Oak Mortgage Reit's stock has dropped -14.05% in the past year. It has performed in line with other stocks in the mortgage reit industry.

Armour Residential Reit (NYSE:ARR) 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.

Armour Residential Reit has a valuation score of 29, which is -4 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 33. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates ARR a Valuation Rating of "B".

Armour Residential Reit's stock has dropped -8.07% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage reit industry by 6 percentage points.

42.86% of mortgage reit stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect mortgage reit stocks to rise by 28.26% over the next year.

0% of mortgage reit stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 2.78% of mortgage reit stocks are rated B (Buy), 52.78% are rated C (Hold), 36.11% are rated D (Sell), and 8.33% are rated F (Strong Sell).