Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund (CSQ): fair value, margin of safety and Wheel Score

Is CSQ undervalued?

Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund (CSQ) closed at 19.89 on 5 Nov 2026. The GLS average fair value - the simple average of the 7 valuation models that produced a positive number - is 158.12, which puts the price 87% below it. 6 of the 7 models value the shares above the current price. A gap this wide is rare in our universe of ~7,400 US stocks and is exactly what the Value part of the Wheel Score rewards; it is also where the question "why is it this cheap?" matters most.

There is a wide gap between DCF (5.32) and GLS Growth (405.22). 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.

CSQ 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 CSQ

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

Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund scores only 4 of 9 on the Piotroski F-score, which fails the "Piotroski 6 or more" Wheel Trade Filter. 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. There is no GLS Moat score for CSQ: 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 15.3%, ROE 21.6%, ROA 15.2% - with debt at 0.41 times equity and negative free cash flow.

The dividend yield is high at 7.44% (payout ratio 20%). 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 3/10, insider activity 5/10 and Congressional trading 5/10 on the GLS smart-money scales.

Wheel Score 25: No options

No options are listed on Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund in our nightly snapshot, so it fails the first Wheel Trade Filter (options that actually trade) (it reads 25, under 70) and is left out of every options scan; the fair value and health figures above are still useful for a plain stock position.

Volume runs at 227k shares a day on a market cap of $3.2B, with a beta of 1.33 - 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 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 CSQ in the nightly calendar. The shares go ex-dividend on 13 Nov 2026 (0.1350 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 Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund 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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