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

Is PFO undervalued?

At 8.67 (close of 5 Nov 2026), PFO trades 53% below the GLS average fair value of 18.41. That average comes from 9 models run on the latest filings, and 8 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 Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity 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 (6.87) and Graham Growth (55.14). 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.

PFO 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 PFO

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 Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Inc. scores 5 of 9 on the Piotroski F-score: a middling result that falls one point short of the "Piotroski 6 or more" Wheel Trade Filter. Some of the nine tests on profitability, leverage and efficiency are failed, so the accounts are worth a look before selling a put on the name. There is no GLS Moat score for PFO: 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 thin or negative - ROIC 4.9%, ROE 7.8%, ROA 4.9% - with debt at 0.60 times equity and a free-cash-flow yield of 7.7%.

The dividend yield is high at 7.98% (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 26: No options

No options are listed on Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity Fund Inc. in our nightly snapshot, so it fails the first Wheel Trade Filter (options that actually trade) (it reads 26, 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 28k shares a day on a market cap of $113M, with a beta of 0.78 - 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 PFO in the nightly calendar. The shares go ex-dividend on 20 Nov 2026 (0.0567 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 Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Income Opportunity 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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