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:

Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment (NYSE:CHMI) is the #1 top mortgage reit stock out of 37 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 Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment (NYSE:CHMI) is: Value: B, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment (NYSE:CHMI) has a Due Diligence Score of 31, which is 2 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 29.

CHMI passed 11 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment has seen its stock lose -13.62% over the past year, underperforming other mortgage reit stocks by -2 percentage points.

Ellington Credit Co (NYSE:EARN) is the #2 top mortgage reit stock out of 37 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: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Ellington Credit Co (NYSE:EARN) has a Due Diligence Score of 32, which is 3 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 29.

EARN passed 12 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Ellington Credit Co has seen its stock lose -21.85% 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 13.64% from Ellington Credit Co's current stock price of $4.40.

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.

Adamas Trust (NASDAQ:ADAM) is the #3 top mortgage reit stock out of 37 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 Adamas Trust (NASDAQ:ADAM) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: A, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Adamas Trust (NASDAQ:ADAM) has a Due Diligence Score of 32, which is 3 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 29.

ADAM passed 11 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Adamas Trust has seen its stock return 47.89% over the past year, overperforming other mortgage reit stocks by 59 percentage points.

Adamas Trust has an average 1 year price target of $9.50, a downside of -3.26% from Adamas Trust's current stock price of $9.82.

Adamas Trust stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Adamas Trust, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 34 mortgage reit stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 mortgage reit stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Lument Finance Trust (NYSE:LFT) has an annual dividend yield of 22.86%, which is 8 percentage points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 14.38%. 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 -138.5% 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 21.82%, which is 7 percentage points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 14.38%. 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.

Orchid Island Capital (NYSE:ORC) has an annual dividend yield of 20.73%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 14.38%. Orchid Island Capital's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% nine times in the last 10 years. Orchid Island Capital's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Orchid Island Capital's dividend payout ratio of 85.2% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Mortgage reit stocks were up 2.2% in the last day, and up 1.52% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why mortgage reit 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 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 -3 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 32. 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 -6.82% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage reit industry by 5 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 29, which is -3 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 32. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates EFC a Valuation Rating of "B".

Ellington Financial's stock has gained 7.42% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage reit industry by 19 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 -3 points higher than the mortgage reit industry average of 32. 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 11.95% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the mortgage reit industry by 23 percentage points.

32.14% of mortgage reit stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect mortgage reit stocks to rise by 18.44% over the next year.

0% of mortgage reit stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 3.03% of mortgage reit stocks are rated B (Buy), 48.48% are rated C (Hold), 39.39% are rated D (Sell), and 9.09% are rated F (Strong Sell).