Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return Fund Inc Common Stock (FLC)

FairStock Score: 62/100 — STEADY

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

At the 2026-10-13 close of $15.71, this closed-end fund is offered below its stated book value: FairStock's P/B is 0.84. It also carries a P/E of 8.78 and a 7.78% dividend yield, with a beta of 0.64. Those are the marks of a cheap, income-oriented vehicle. But I always ask what the asset is. FLC owns preferred securities and debt, concentrated in utilities and banks, so its fortunes depend on credit spreads, interest rates, and the health of financial issuers. There is no traditional competitive moat here; the edge, if any, is manager skill and the discount to book. FairStock's Graham Number is $27.61, giving a 43.10% margin of safety, but Graham metrics were built for operating companies, not leveraged funds. The financial health signals are mixed-to-poor: FairStock shows ROE of 9.72% and ROCE of 3.66%, D/E of 0.61, a Piotroski F-Score of 2/9, and an Altman Z-Score of 0.79. That leverage can magnify income but also losses. Growth trajectory is unclear because revenue and profit growth are unavailable, and FairStock's Lynch category is none due to only 0 years of filed results, needing 3. So I see a discount and a high yield, but not a fortress balance sheet. The price may be cheap against book and earnings, yet the quality of the book is the key unknown. I would want more filed history and evidence that the distribution and leverage are sustainable before calling it a classic value opportunity.

In plain English: Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return Fund is a closed-end fund that owns preferred securities and debt, mostly tied to utilities and banks. It pays a high income stream and its shares are priced below the fund's accounting value, but the safety and quality scores in the data look weak. On the numbers given, the price looks cheap, while the business quality looks mixed.

The full AI analysis, bull and bear case and key monitorables are in FairStock Pro.

Data as of 2026-10-13 close · note generated 2026-10-15 · model deepseek-flash

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer