Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return Fund Inc. (FLC): fair value, margin of safety and Wheel Score

Is FLC undervalued?

Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return Fund Inc. (FLC) closed at 15.54 on 16 Oct 2026. The GLS average fair value - the simple average of the 9 valuation models that produced a positive number - is 33.35, which puts the price 53% 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 DCF (8.73) and Graham Growth (102.38). 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 FLC under Speculative / Distressed - negative earnings or a Piotroski score of 3 or less - which caps its Wheel Score at 45 and keeps it out of the Sunday Scan.

Nine valuation models for FLC

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

Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return Fund Inc. scores only 3 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 1.6/10 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 moderate - ROIC 5.1%, ROE 8.2%, ROA 5.1% - with debt at 0.60 times equity and a free-cash-flow yield of 8.0%.

The dividend yield is high at 8.22% (payout ratio 69%). 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 4/10, insider activity 5/10 and Congressional trading 5/10 on the GLS smart-money scales.

Wheel Score 39: No options

No options are listed on Flaherty & Crumrine 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 31k shares a day on a market cap of $162M, with a beta of 0.67 - a low beta, so day-to-day moves are smaller than the market's; the Stability part of the Wheel Score gives that 6 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 FLC in the nightly calendar. The shares go ex-dividend on 23 Oct 2026 (0.1067 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.

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