Weekly Closed-End Fund Roundup: March 12, 2023
Summary
- Three out of 22 CEF sectors positive on price and 5 out of 22 sectors positive on NAV last week.
- Delaware/Abrdn mergers are closed.
- New: adding tables of highest yielding, cheapest and most expensive funds from our screener to the Weekly Roundup.
- Looking for a helping hand in the market? Members of CEF/ETF Income Laboratory get exclusive ideas and guidance to navigate any climate. Learn More »
cemagraphics
Author’s note: This article was released to CEF/ETF Income Laboratory members on March 15, 2023. Please check latest data before investing.
The Weekly Closed-End Fund Roundup will be put out at the start of each week to summarize recent price movements in closed-end fund [CEF] sectors in the last week, as well as to highlight recently concluded or upcoming corporate actions on CEFs, such as tender offers, rights offerings, or mergers. Data is taken from the close of Friday, March 10th, 2023.
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Weekly performance roundup
For CEFs, 3 out of 22 sectors were positive on price (down from 19 last week) and the average price return was -3.21% (down from +1.01% last week). The lead gainer was Taxable Munis (+0.85%), while Real Estates lagged (-7.58%).
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5 out of 22 sectors were positive on NAV (down from 12 last week), while the average NAV return was -1.49% (down from +0.25% last week). The top sector by NAV was California Munis (+1.33%) while the weakest sector by NAV was Real Estate (-4.42%).
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The sector with the highest premium was Limited Duration (+1.18%), while the sector with the widest discount is MLPs (-14.29%). The average sector discount is -6.44% (down from -5.84% last week).
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The sector with the highest premium/discount increase was Emerging Market Income (+0.56%), while Senior Loans (-2.61%) showed the lowest premium/discount decline. The average change in premium/discount was -0.59% (down from +0.19% last week).
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The sector with the highest average 1-year z-score is Convertibles (+0.73), while the sector with the lowest average 1-year z-score is Single-state Munis (-1.35). The average z-score is -0.22 (down from +0.03 last week).
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The sectors with the highest yields are Senior Loans (+11.92%), Multisector Income (+11.14%), and Emerging Market Income (+11.00%). Discounts are included for comparison. The average sector yield is +8.29% (up from +7.97% last week).
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Individual CEFs that have undergone a significant decrease in premium/discount value over the past week, coupled optionally with an increasing NAV trend, a negative z-score, and/or are trading at a discount, are potential buy candidates.
| Fund | Ticker | P/D decrease | Yield | P/D | z-score | Price change | NAV change |
| Oxford Lane Capital Corp | (OXLC) | -18.31% | 17.31% | 7.36% | -0.3 | -10.65% | -2.46% |
| Herzfeld Caribbean Basin | (CUBA) | -9.62% | 18.37% | -18.91% | -1.0 | -6.90% | 2.44% |
| PIMCO Municipal Income | (PMF) | -7.07% | 5.28% | -0.62% | -2.0 | -4.98% | 0.87% |
| abrdn Australia Equity Fund Inc | (IAF) | -6.75% | 12.24% | -10.53% | -1.1 | -12.01% | -0.45% |
| CBRE Global Real Estate Income | (IGR) | -6.64% | 12.83% | -9.46% | -2.1 | -14.61% | -0.94% |
| Virtus Convertible & Income Fund | (NCV) | -6.10% | 15.36% | -9.64% | -0.5 | -13.09% | 0.00% |
| XAI Octagon FR & Alt Income Term Trust | (XFLT) | -6.05% | 13.46% | -1.36% | -1.2 | -5.92% | -1.88% |
| BlackRock Science & Technology Trust II | (BSTZ) | -5.00% | 11.57% | -16.81% | -1.0 | -6.85% | -1.28% |
| Eagle Point Income Co Inc | (EIC) | -4.79% | 13.49% | 7.74% | -0.2 | -6.32% | -0.36% |
| Eaton Vance National Municipal Opprs Tr | (EOT) | -4.75% | 4.46% | -5.33% | -0.7 | -5.45% | 1.49% |
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Conversely, individual CEFs that have undergone a significant increase in premium/discount value in the past week, coupled optionally with a decreasing NAV trend, a positive z-score, and/or are trading at a premium, are potential sell candidates.
| Fund | Ticker | P/D increase | Yield | P/D | z-score | Price change | NAV change |
| Gabelli Multi-Media | (GGT) | 9.93% | 14.86% | 45.81% | 0.4 | -1.66% | -1.69% |
| Foxby Corp. | (OTCPK:FXBY) | 9.06% | 1.31% | -23.93% | 2.1 | 5.36% | -3.84% |
| Gabelli Utility Trust | (GUT) | 7.81% | 8.60% | 106.51% | 1.3 | 0.36% | -1.77% |
| Virtus Stone Harbor Emg Mkts Total Inc | (EDI) | 4.88% | 15.16% | 12.43% | 1.4 | -0.18% | -1.04% |
| Cushing® MLP & Infras Total Return | (SRV) | 4.74% | 15.63% | -7.96% | 1.9 | -1.29% | -3.81% |
| Gabelli Equity | (GAB) | 3.17% | 10.45% | 12.55% | -0.4 | -3.37% | -1.26% |
| Ellsworth Growth and Income Fund | (ECF) | 2.92% | 6.06% | -9.49% | 1.7 | -1.27% | 0.00% |
| Templeton Emerg Mkts Income | (TEI) | 2.83% | 10.81% | -4.98% | 1.3 | 2.88% | -0.27% |
| Duff & Phelps Utility and Infra Fund Inc | (DPG) | 2.56% | 10.29% | 17.88% | 2.8 | -2.30% | -0.92% |
| Gabelli Conv Inc Secs | (GCV) | 2.50% | 9.84% | 13.49% | -0.6 | -1.41% | -1.02% |
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New!
From our screener, here are the CEFs with the highest yields, widest discounts, and lowest 1-year z-scores:
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From our screener, here are the CEFs with the best 1-year performance, highest premiums, and highest 1-year z-scores:
Income Lab
Recent corporate actions
These are from the past month. Any new news in the past week has a bolded date:
March 13, 2023 | abrdn's U.S. Closed-End Funds Announce Closing of Reorganizations.
February 17, 2023 | KKR Income Opportunities Fund Announces the Results of Its Rights Offering.
February 16, 2023 | Delaware Enhanced Global Dividend and Income Fund Announces Final Results of Tender Offer.
Upcoming corporate actions
These are from the past month. Any new news in the past week has a bolded date:
February 27, 2023 | CBRE Global Real Estate Income Fund (NYSE: IGR) Announces Terms of Rights Offering.
November 9, 2022 | Eaton Vance Closed-End Funds Announce Proposed Merger.
Recent activist or other CEF news
These are from the past month. Any new news in the past week has a bolded date:
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Distribution changes announced this month
These are sorted in ascending order of distribution change percentage. Funds with distribution changes announced this month are included. Any distribution declarations made this week are in bold. I've also added monthly/quarterly information as well as yield, coverage (after the boost/cut), discount and 1-year z-score information. I've separated the funds into two sub-categories, cutters and boosters.
Cutters
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Boosters
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Strategy Statement
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Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of BSTZ, ECF, OXLC, XFLT either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.