NMI Holdings Inc (NMIH) Stock Price & How to Invest

NMI Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: NMIH), operating as National MI, sells private mortgage insurance that lets lenders originate conventional loans with down payments below 20 percent and sell them to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while transferring part of the default risk to National MI. Profitability comes from the spread between the premiums it earns on its insurance-in-force and the claims it pays, so risk selection, pricing discipline, and reinsurance are the core levers. The company competes in a concentrated, roughly six-player market and has grown its insured portfolio into a large, seasoned, high-credit-quality book.

The investment picture is that of a capital-return story trading cheaply on reported earnings. In the first quarter of 2026 NMIH posted record total revenue of about $183.5 million and net income of about $99.3 million ($1.28 per diluted share) at a roughly 15 percent return on equity, with primary insurance-in-force of about $222 billion. The stock trades near a single-digit price-to-earnings ratio and close to book value, reflecting the market pricing in the cyclical risk that a housing downturn could lift the loss ratio from today's low levels. The bet is that National MI keeps earning attractive spreads and returning excess capital through buybacks across the cycle.

The dominant risk is housing credit: a recession, rising unemployment, or falling home prices would push the loss ratio well above today's low-teens level, and mortgage insurance losses arrive with a lag after stress begins. Rising mortgage rates can slow new originations and shrink new insurance written, while the industry's roughly six players compete heavily on price, pressuring premium rates. National MI depends structurally on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, so changes to GSE charters, capital rules (the PMIERs standards), or their use of mortgage insurance could reshape demand. The company pays no common dividend, so total return depends on earnings growth and buybacks rather than income. As a capital-intensive insurer it is also exposed to reinsurance availability and to regulatory and rating-agency capital requirements.

6 analysts publish price targets on NMIH, averaging $49.17 against a $44.27 price as of September 2026, or +11.1%. The published targets run from $43.00 to $53.00, a narrow spread, and the ratings split 4 buy, 2 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 5 raises and 3 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full NMIH forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on NMI Holdings Inc. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Growing, high-quality insurance-in-force. National MI's primary insurance-in-force rose about 5 percent year over year to roughly $222 billion, with first-quarter 2026 new insurance written up about 33 percent from a year earlier. The most optimistic published target, $53.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. The dominant risk is housing credit: a recession, rising unemployment, or falling home prices would push the loss ratio well above today's low-teens level, and mortgage insurance losses arrive with a lag after stress begins. The most pessimistic target, $43.00, is roughly what NMIH is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on NMIH, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

No. NMI Holdings Inc (NMIH) has not split its stock in the last 10 years. That is a statement about the window we check rather than about the company’s entire history, so an older split is possible. It also matters less than it once did: fractional shares mean a high price per share no longer keeps smaller investors out, which removed most of the practical reason to split.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see NMI Holdings Inc's investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$720M
• Net income (TTM): ~$390M
• Diluted EPS (TTM): ~$5.00
• Market cap: ~$3.0B
• P/E ratio: ~7.4x
• Price / book: ~1.2x

NMIH trades at a single-digit price-to-earnings multiple and roughly book value, a discount to the private-mortgage-insurer peer average, reflecting the cyclical loss risk in the business. First-quarter 2026 revenue was a record ~$183.5 million with net income of ~$99.3 million ($1.28 per share) at about a 15 percent return on equity. Figures are approximate and drawn from Q1 2026 reporting; verify against the latest filing.

Other names that sit close to NMIH: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get NMIH exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so NMIH sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where NMIH fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

NMIH is a well-capitalized private mortgage insurer compounding book value at mid-teens returns, and the investment picture rests on housing credit staying benign.

Whether NMIH is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is NMIH a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the NMIH stock forecast.

For income investors, whether NMIH pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does NMIH pay a dividend? And to weigh NMIH against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: NMIH vs MTG and NMIH vs RDN.