abrdn Emerging Markets ex-China Fund, Inc. (AEF): fair value, margin of safety and Wheel Score

Is AEF undervalued?

AEF has a margin of safety of 92%: the stock closed at 8.13 on 5 Nov 2026 against a GLS average fair value of 99.29. 6 of the 8 valuation models that produced a number sit above the price. Our scans treat a discount this large as a strong starting point for a cash-secured put, not as a verdict - the fair value is a model output, and a wide gap can mean the models are missing something the market knows.

The 8 models disagree widely: 10 Cap gives 0.5809 while GLS Growth gives 295.41. A spread that wide means the average is sensitive to which methods you trust; the model table below shows where each one lands, and the Quote page lets you switch any of them off.

AEF looks like a fund, note or preferred share rather than an operating company, so the nightly engine files it under Fund / Note: the valuation models are not built for it, and its Wheel Score is capped at 45.

Nine valuation models for AEF

Each model turns the latest filed numbers into a value per share; the GLS fair value is the simple average of the ones that produce a positive number. The last two rows are shown for reference and never enter the average. The Quote page lets you switch any model off and add your own margin of safety.

Quality and financial health

On financial health AEF scores 7/9 (Piotroski): most of the nine tests - positive earnings and cash flow, falling debt, rising margins and turnover - are passed, which is the kind of balance sheet a wheel trader is happy to be assigned. There is no GLS Moat score for AEF: funds, notes and second share lines get none, and so does a company with fewer than two years of accounts on file. The Moat part of the Wheel Score is zero.

Returns on capital are high - ROIC 28.4%, ROE 30.8%, ROA 27.5% - with debt at 0.09 times equity and a free-cash-flow yield of 0.4%.

The dividend yield is high at 10.82% (payout ratio 16%). A yield this size is often the market's way of pricing a risk to the payout, so the health score and cash flow matter more than usual.

Institutional ownership scores 6/10, insider activity 10/10 and Congressional trading 5/10 on the GLS smart-money scales.

Wheel Score 28: No options

AEF has no listed options in the nightly snapshot, so there is nothing to sell and the stock cannot be wheeled however good the business. It fails the first Wheel Trade Filter (options that actually trade), so the score stays under 70 and is shown as "No options" (28 here). The valuation and quality numbers still apply to owning the shares outright.

Volume runs at 82k shares a day on a market cap of $330M, with a beta of 1.12; the Stability part of the Wheel Score rates that fair.

The Wheel Score ranks ~7,400 US stocks for selling cash-secured puts and covered calls: a stock must pass all 9 Wheel Trade Filters to score 70, and the score then ranks the ones that pass; the Sunday Scan is the top 10. It is updated nightly and is not a recommendation. How the Wheel Score works · the walkthrough lesson shows how it fits into a trade, start to finish.

Upcoming events

No upcoming earnings date is recorded for AEF in the nightly calendar.

Earnings, dividend, IPO, split and economic calendars for the whole market, filterable to your watchlists.

Similar stocks in Asset Management - Income

The 12 companies below are the closest to abrdn Emerging Markets ex-China Fund, Inc. by market cap within the Asset Management - Income industry, each with its own fact sheet; the Compare page puts up to eight of them side by side.

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