AGNC vs NLY: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. AGNC and NLY share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined AGNC and NLY exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

AGNC Investment Corp is a real estate investment trust that invests almost entirely in agency mortgage-backed securities, meaning residential mortgages guaranteed against credit loss by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae. It uses substantial leverage, financing its portfolio in the repo market, and earns the spread between the yield on its MBS and its borrowing and hedging costs. That net spread, plus dollar-roll income, funds a monthly dividend that is the main reason most shareholders own the stock.

Full AGNC guide

Annaly Capital Management is one of the largest and oldest mortgage real estate investment trusts (mREITs) in the United States. It runs a roughly $107 billion investment portfolio, the bulk of which (about $92 billion as of Q1 2026) sits in highly liquid agency mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, complemented by growing residential credit and mortgage servicing rights (MSR) sleeves. The business model is essentially a leveraged carry trade: Annaly funds long-dated mortgage assets with short-term repo borrowings, earns the spread between the two, hedges interest-rate exposure with swaps and other instruments, and distributes the profit as dividends under REIT rules.

Full NLY guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• AGNC drivers: Very high monthly dividend; Agency-MBS spreads.
• NLY drivers: Wide net interest spread and covered dividend; Diversification into residential credit and MSR.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: AGNC's total return is the dividend minus changes in book value, and book value is highly sensitive to interest rates and MBS spreads. For NLY, the dominant risk is interest-rate and spread volatility: a sharp move in rates or a widening of mortgage spreads can cut book value per share quickly, as seen historically when the stock and dividend both fell.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick AGNC if you believe its drivers more; NLY if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the AGNC and NLY guides.

AGNC. Agency mortgage REITs like AGNC trade around their book value per share, so price-to-book is the key valuation lens rather than P/E. The quoted double-digit yield is real but should be read alongside book-value trends: in Q1 2026 the dividend was largely offset by a roughly $0.50 decline in tangible book value, illustrating that the yield and the principal can move in opposite directions.

NLY. As of July 2026 NLY trades around $22-23 per share, a modest premium to its ~$19.82 Q1 2026 book value. Earnings available for distribution of ~$0.76 covered the dividend, and the net interest spread of ~1.42% (net interest margin ~1.71%) is the key metric to watch quarter to quarter. Trailing-twelve-month revenue was roughly $2.4 billion, but for a levered mortgage REIT book value per share and dividend coverage matter far more than a revenue multiple.

Headline figures (approximate, Q1 2026 (quarter ended March 31, 2026)): AGNC shows dividend yield ~14% (annualized), monthly dividend $0.12 ($1.44/yr), tangible book value/share ~$8.38, net spread + dollar roll income/share ~$0.42 (Q1); NLY shows market cap ~$16 billion, book value per share (q1 2026) ~$19.82, dividend yield ~13%, quarterly dividend (q2 2026) ~$0.75/share.

AGNC and NLY are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined AGNC and NLY exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.