Which Is a Better Investment, Essent Group Ltd. or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Stock?

By Tudor Pop
October 31, 2026
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Sifting through countless of stocks in the Financial Services industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation or Essent Group Ltd. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Essent Group Ltd. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Essent Group Ltd.

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation operates in the secondary mortgage market in the United States. The company operates through two segments: Single-Family and Multifamily. The Single-Family segment purchases, securitizes, and guarantees single-family loans; and manages single-family mortgage credit and market risk, as well as manages mortgage-related investments portfolio, single-family securitization activities, and treasury functions. This segment also serves mortgage banking companies, commercial banks, regional banks, community banks, credit unions, HFAs, savings institutions, and non-depository institutions. The Multifamily segment engages in the purchase, securitization, and guarantee of multifamily loans; issuance of multifamily K certificates; manages multifamily mortgage credit and market risk; and invests in multifamily loans and mortgage-related securities. It also serves banks and other depository institutions, insurance companies, money managers, central banks, pension funds, state and local governments, REITs, non-depository institutions, and brokers and dealers. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation was incorporated in 1970 and is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.

Essent Group Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides private mortgage insurance and reinsurance, and title insurance and settlement services to mortgage lenders, borrowers, and investors in the United States. It operates through two segments, Mortgage Insurance and Reinsurance. The company’s mortgage insurance products include primary, pool, and master policy. It also provides information technology maintenance and development services; customer support-related services; underwriting consulting services to third-party reinsurers; and contract underwriting services, as well as credit risk management products. In addition, the company offers title insurance and settlement services; and title insurance underwriting services. It serves the originators of residential mortgage loans, such as regulated depository institutions, mortgage banks, credit unions, and other lenders. Essent Group Ltd. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Latest Financial Services and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, Essent Group Ltd. Stock News

As of October 30, 2026, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation had a $14.2 billion market capitalization, compared to the Financial Services median of $2.3 million. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation’s stock is down 56.4% in 2026, up 19.1% in the previous five trading days and down 56.71% in the past year.

Currently, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 442.0. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $25.0 billion with a 53.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 8.0%. There are no analysts providing consensus earnings estimates for the current fiscal year. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation does not currently pay a dividend.

As of October 30, 2026, Essent Group Ltd. had a $6.0 billion market cap, putting it in the 71st percentile of all stocks. Essent Group Ltd.’s stock is up 3.1% in 2026, up 0.3% in the previous five trading days and up 12.28% in the past year.

Currently, Essent Group Ltd.’s price-earnings ratio is 9.4. Essent Group Ltd.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.3 billion with a 51.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 13.7%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $7.583 per share for the current fiscal year. Essent Group Ltd. currently has a 2.1% dividend yield.

How We Compare Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Essent Group Ltd. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Essent Group Ltd.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Essent Group Ltd. Stock Value Grades

Company Ticker Value
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation FMCC C
Essent Group Ltd. ESNT A

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation has a Value Score of 59, which is Average. Essent Group Ltd. has a Value Score of 87, which is Deep Value.

The Value Stock Winner: Essent Group Ltd.

As you can clearly see from the Value Grade breakdown above, Essent Group Ltd. is considered to have better value than Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, Essent Group Ltd. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Essent Group Ltd.’s Momentum Grades

Company Ticker Momentum
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation FMCC F
Essent Group Ltd. ESNT C

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation has a Momentum Score of 18, which is Very Weak. Essent Group Ltd. has a Momentum Score of 58, which is Average.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation or Essent Group Ltd. has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation or Essent Group Ltd. is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Essent Group Ltd.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company Ticker Earnings Estimate
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation FMCC F
Essent Group Ltd. ESNT B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation has a Earnings Estimate Score of 16, which is Very Negative. Essent Group Ltd. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 69, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: Essent Group Ltd.

As you can clearly see from the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, Essent Group Ltd. has a better Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade than Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. For those who are specifically looking for companies with better short-term prospects when compared to other companies in the same industry, Essent Group Ltd. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Don’t Forget Your Free Special Report on How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Investment Decisions

Other Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Essent Group Ltd. Grades

In addition to Estimate Revisions, Value and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Quality.

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Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Essent Group Ltd. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation or Essent Group Ltd. Stock?

Overall, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation stock has a Value Score of 59, Momentum Score of 18 and Estimate Revisions Score of 16.

Essent Group Ltd. stock has a Value Score of 87, Momentum Score of 58 and Estimate Revisions Score of 69.

Comparing Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Essent Group Ltd.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Learn More About A+ Investor

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



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