Eaton Vance Senior Floating-Rate Trust (EFR): fair value, margin of safety and Wheel Score

Is EFR undervalued?

Eaton Vance Senior Floating-Rate Trust (EFR) closed at 10.24 on 5 Nov 2026. The GLS average fair value - the simple average of the 9 valuation models that produced a positive number - is 33.57, which puts the price 69% below it. 8 of the 9 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 EPV (8.55) and Payback Time (76.20). 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.

Ranked against every other company we cover, EFR is clearly cheaper than it is fast-growing, so the nightly engine files it under Value (value score 77, growth score 43, out of 100). It also carries the Income tag (Income = a dividend yield of 4% or more).

Nine valuation models for EFR

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

Eaton Vance Senior Floating-Rate Trust scores 7 of 9 on the Piotroski F-score, the nine yes/no tests of profitability, leverage and efficiency on the latest annual accounts - a strong reading that passes the "Piotroski 6 or more" Wheel Trade Filter with room to spare. On durability EFR scores 6.0/10 on the GLS Moat - a middle reading; the Moat Score tab on the Quote page's Financials view shows which of the four parts hold it back.

Returns on capital are thin or negative - ROIC 4.1%, ROE 5.1%, ROA 3.9% - with debt at 0.25 times equity and a free-cash-flow yield of 32.6%.

The dividend yield is high at 8.42% (payout ratio 236%) - a payout above 100% of earnings, which is not covered by profits. 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 5/10, insider activity 5/10 and Congressional trading 5/10 on the GLS smart-money scales.

Wheel Score 35: No options

No options are listed on Eaton Vance Senior Floating-Rate Trust in our nightly snapshot, so it fails the first Wheel Trade Filter (options that actually trade) (it reads 35, 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 80k shares a day on a market cap of $302M, with a beta of 0.37 - a low beta, so day-to-day moves are smaller than the market's; 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 EFR in the nightly calendar. The shares go ex-dividend on 16 Nov 2026 (0.0690 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 Eaton Vance Senior Floating-Rate Trust 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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