Cornerstone Total Return Fund, Inc. (CRF): fair value, margin of safety and Wheel Score

Is CRF undervalued?

At 5.93 (close of 16 Oct 2026), CRF trades 79% below the GLS average fair value of 28.01. That average comes from 7 models run on the latest filings, and 6 of them land above the current price. Margins of safety over 30% are the exception rather than the rule across the ~7,400 stocks we value each night, so the number earns Cornerstone Total Return Fund, Inc. the full Value points in the Wheel Score - and a closer look at what the market is pricing in.

There is a wide gap between DCF (0.4797) and Graham Growth (61.91). When the models are this far apart the "fair value" is really a range, and the margin of safety above should be read with that range in mind.

The nightly engine files CRF under High Growth: revenue and earnings growing fast enough that the growth-based models carry the valuation.

Nine valuation models for CRF

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

Cornerstone Total Return Fund, Inc. scores only 4 of 9 on the Piotroski F-score, which fails the Sunday Scan's "6 or more" rule. A reading this low means several of the basic tests - positive earnings, positive operating cash flow, falling debt, no new share issuance - are not met. A GLS Moat score of 1.7/10 is a weak reading: the ten-year history the score grades (revenue, EPS, book value, margins, cash flow, share count, ROIC) has not been steady, so the Moat part of the Wheel Score contributes little.

Returns on capital are high - ROIC 15.5%, ROE 15.5%, ROA 15.5% - with debt at 0.00 times equity and negative free cash flow.

The dividend yield is high at 23.77% (payout ratio 0%). 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 2/10, insider activity 10/10 and Congressional trading 5/10 on the GLS smart-money scales.

Wheel Score 39: No options

No options are listed on Cornerstone Total Return Fund, Inc. in our nightly snapshot. The Wheel Score is therefore capped at 39 (it reads 39) and the stock is left out of every options screen; the fair value and health figures above are still useful for a plain stock position.

Volume runs at 2.6M shares a day on a market cap of $702M, with a beta of 1.22 - a high beta, so the stock tends to move more than the market and a strike can be gapped through; the Stability part of the Wheel Score gives that 15 of 20.

The Wheel Score ranks ~7,400 US stocks for selling cash-secured puts and covered calls; it is updated nightly and is not a recommendation. The walkthrough lesson shows how the score fits into a trade, start to finish.

Upcoming events

No upcoming earnings date is recorded for CRF in the nightly calendar. The shares go ex-dividend on 13 Nov 2026 (0.1176 per share), so a covered call sold before then carries a small early-assignment risk around that date.

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

Similar stocks in Asset Management

The 12 companies below are the closest to Cornerstone Total Return Fund, Inc. by market cap within the Asset Management industry, each with its own fact sheet; the Compare page puts up to eight of them side by side.

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