Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Fund Inc. (PFD): fair value, margin of safety and Wheel Score

Is PFD undervalued?

Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Fund Inc. (PFD) closed at 10.45 on 16 Oct 2026. The GLS average fair value - the simple average of the 9 valuation models that produced a positive number - is 29.50, which puts the price 65% 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.

The 9 models disagree widely: DCF gives 6.77 while GLS Growth gives 71.30. 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.

The nightly engine files PFD under High Yield Income: a dividend yield above 4%.

Nine valuation models for PFD

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

Financial health is weak: PFD passes 4 of the nine Piotroski tests. Our screens drop the stock at the health rule; a low score is often the reason a stock looks cheap on the valuation models. The GLS Moat score is low at 2.0 out of 10, which says the ten-year record of revenue, earnings, margins and returns on capital has been inconsistent - growth and shocks rather than steady compounding.

Returns on capital are thin or negative - ROIC 4.9%, ROE 7.7%, ROA 4.9% - with debt at 0.56 times equity and a free-cash-flow yield of 7.8%.

The dividend yield is high at 7.92% (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

PFD has no listed options in the nightly snapshot, so there is nothing to sell and the stock cannot be wheeled however good the business; the Wheel Score is capped at 39 and shown as "No options" (39 here). The valuation and quality numbers still apply to owning the shares outright.

Volume runs at 19k shares a day on a market cap of $134M, with a beta of 0.70 - 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 PFD in the nightly calendar. The shares go ex-dividend on 23 Oct 2026 (0.0703 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 - Income

The 12 companies below are the closest to Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income 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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