Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund

Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund operates as a Closed-End Investment Fund/Investment Trust. The Fund seeks total return through a combination of capital appreciation and current income by investing in a diversified portfolio of equities, convertible securities and high yield corporate bonds. Its investment services are provided through Calamos Advisors LLC. The company was founded on December 31, 2003 and is headquartered in Naperville, IL.

Calamos Dynamic Convertible & Income Fund

Calamos Global Total Return Fund

Calamos Convertible Opportunities And Income Fund

Calamos Global Dynamic Income Fund

Calamos Convertible And High Income Fund

METRO CHICAGO, Ill. , March 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Calamos Investments®* has announced monthly distributions and sources of distributions paid in March 2024 to shareholders of its seven closed-end funds (the Funds) pursuant to the Funds' respective distribution plans.

Calamos Investments Closed-End Funds (NASDAQ: CHI, CHY, CSQ, CGO, CHW, CCD and CPZ) Announce Monthly Distributions and Required Notifications of Sources of Distribution

Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund is a closed-end fund that invests in a diversified portfolio of common stocks, convertibles, corporate bonds, and preferred securities. The CSQ CEF has a solid record of nearly 20 years, providing its owners with high income and capital appreciation at the same time. We believe it is a solid, diversified fund for income investors. However, we would rate the fund as a "Hold" as its equity assets may be a bit overvalued while counter-balanced by fixed-income assets. So, overall, the fund appears fairly valued at this time.

CSQ: Best Of Both Worlds? Solid 8% Income And Capital Appreciation

Ellington Financial

EPR Properties

Gladstone Investment

PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund

Today we'll discuss five monthly dividends with yields between 7.3% and 16.7%. But let's be careful—market participants are showing signs of greed right now.

Retirement Income: Earn Up To 16.7% Each And Every Month

ArrowMark Financial

Central Securities

Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Diversified Equity Income Fund

LMP Capital and Income Fund

For income investors, closed-end funds remain an attractive investment class that covers a variety of asset classes and promises high distributions and reasonable total returns. Closed-end funds, or CEFs, are generally characterized by higher volatility and deeper drawdowns than the broader market. For these reasons, they are not suited for everyone. In this monthly series, we highlight five CEFs with solid track records that pay high distributions and offer "excess" discounts. We try to separate the wheat from the chaff using our filtering process to select just five CEFs every month from around 500 closed-end funds.

5 Best CEFs This Month For 9% Yield (January 2024)

CSQ has a solid track record and offers a healthy distribution yield, but it also trades at a tight valuation. The fund's discount has barely budged since our previous update despite the market actually hitting correction territory briefly during this period. CSQ's distribution rate is sustainable and attractive, but the latest report shows that it is funded entirely by capital gains.

CSQ: Solid Performance And Sustainable Distribution

Virtus AllianzGI Diversified Income & Convertible Fund

Ares Dynamic Credit Allocation Fund

BlackRock Enhanced Capital and Income Fund

Eaton Vance Tax Advantaged Global Dividend Opportunities Fund

Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred Securities Income Fund Inc

Barings Participation Investors

Liberty All Star Equity Fund

5 Best CEFs This Month For 9.5% Yield (December 2023)

The Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund offers a high level of total return through a diversified portfolio of equities, convertible securities, and high-yield corporate bonds. The CSQ closed-end fund's recent performance has been reasonable, but it has underperformed compared to other options in the market. The fund's current distribution yield is not as high as some other funds, but it is reasonably competitive with equity closed-end funds.

CSQ: This Good Blended Fund Is Finally Trading At An Attractive Price

BlackRock Resources & Commodities Strategy Trust

BlackRock Enhanced Equity Dividend Trust

Morgan Stanley India Investment Fund Inc

Neuberger Berman MLP Income Fund, Inc.

Tekla World Healthcare Fund

5 Best CEFs This Month For 10% Yield (November 2023)

The Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund invests in a diversified portfolio of equities, convertible securities, and high-yield corporate bonds. The fund's market performance has been decent, but there are other funds that have outperformed it. The fund's bond allocation is weighted towards high-yield bonds, which have attractive yields but also higher risk.

CSQ: This Blended Fund Has Appealing Features, But Its Price Is Too High

Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Global Dividend Income Fund

Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Global Diversified Equity Income Fund

Nuveen Floating Rate Income Fund

Barings Corporate Investors

John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund

Closed-end funds offer high income, diversification, and market-matching total returns for income-focused investors. Five CEFs with solid track records, high distributions, and attractive discounts are highlighted in this monthly series. The selected CEFs offer an average distribution rate of over 9%, have strong historical performance, and trade at an average discount of -6.5% to NAV.

5 Best CEFs To Buy This Month (August 2023)

Eaton Vance Senior Floating Rate Fund

Eaton Vance Floating-Rate Income Trust

Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund

Nuveen Floating Rate Income Opportunity Fund ETF

Nuveen Short Duration Credit Opportunities Fund

Nuveen Senior Income Fund

Reaves Utility Income Fund

We review CEF market valuation and performance through the second week of July and highlight recent market action. CEFs had a good week overall as NAVs gained, however, discounts remain sluggish. The net income profile of some CEFs has turned negative, owing to a high cost of leverage.

CEF Weekly Review: (Some) CEF Net Income Turns Negative

The Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund provides exposure to a flexible portfolio with an emphasis on equity positions and meaningful exposure to convertible and high-yield bonds. The fund's performance has been strong, delivering superior results against its blended benchmark. However, with rising leverage costs, future outperformance could be more challenging. Despite these challenges, the fund remains a solid hold for long-term investors. An alternative would be suggesting a more cautious approach by dollar-cost averaging in.

CSQ: Strong Track Record With An ~8.5% Distribution Yield

Blackrock Health Sciences Trust

BlackRock Utilities Infrastructure & Power Opportunities Trust

Allspring Global Dividend Opportunity Fund

Eaton Vance Enhanced Equity Income Fund II

Nuveen Core Equity Alpha Fund

Putnam High Income Securities Fund

For income investors, closed-end funds remain an attractive investment class that covers a variety of asset classes and promises high distributions and reasonable total returns. Closed-end funds, or CEFs, are generally characterized by higher volatility and deeper drawdowns than the broader market. For these reasons, they are not suited for everyone. In this monthly series, we highlight five CEFs that have solid track records, pay high distributions, and are offering "excess" discounts. We try to separate the wheat from the chaff using our filtering process to select just five CEFs every month from around 500 closed-end funds.

5 Best CEFs To Buy This Month (June 2023)

Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund holds 21% in Tech, including NVIDIA Corporation. It also holds Healthcare, Financials, Communications Services, and other sectors.

CSQ: 9% Yield On Tech At A Discount

Investors are in desperate need of additional sources of income today to maintain their standard of living in the face of the highest inflation we have seen in years. Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund invests in a portfolio of common equities and bonds to achieve high total returns, which it then pays out to its investors.

CSQ CEF: Earn An Income At A Discount

CSQ invests mostly in equity holdings but carries a meaningful allocation to convertible and high-yield bonds. The market has been quite volatile, which is impacting this fund that will mostly follow around the broader market.

CSQ: Premium Persists, Keeping This A Hold For Now

During the past 16 weeks, Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund's price went up to almost $15 and then again dropped down to $14.35. It is currently trading at a discount of 2.72 percent. Although ICT stocks - which comprise almost 30 percent of its equity portfolio - are performing poorly, CSQ's price grew by almost 7 percent this year.

CSQ: High-Yielding Diversified Balanced Portfolio, Also Seems Sustainable

CSQ is currently trading at a slight premium, despite the overall market volatility. The fund is a flexible approach that can provide significant diversification across asset classes and sectors.

CSQ: Attractive Yield, Not Such An Attractive Entry Level

CSQ's majority of assets are invested in three sectors - ICT, Healthcare and Financial Services - which have high growth potentials in the coming years. CSQ offers steady pay-out and generates strong yield. The distribution seems sustainable, considering the return generated from high-yield bonds.

CSQ: Strong Yield, Healthy Total Returns Over The Medium And Long Run

CSQ offers investors a strong distribution that is paid monthly, with a respectable track record. The closed-end fund invests in just about everything but primarily is weighted towards equity positions.

CSQ: Attractive Distribution Paid Monthly, But Valuation Pushing Higher

The Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund primarily invests in common and preferred stocks of companies across all market capitalizations, convertible securities, and high yield corporate bonds. Of the five Calamos Closed-End Funds across various but related strategies, with 10 years of history, CSQ has the best CAGR for the 1, 3, 5, and 10-year periods.

Calamos Strategic Total Return: The Manager's Best Performer

Tortoise Essential Assets Income Term Fund

Investors received a bit of a reprieve in terms of losses as the market headed higher in March. I followed up February's 3 purchases with another 3 purchases for the month of March.

3 Closed-End Funds Bought In March 2022

CSQ finished off 2021 with total price returns over 30% and total NAV returns of nearly 29%. That performance beat the market, which is impressive as a more hybrid fund, though leverage contributed to this.

CSQ: Sell-Off Pushes This Fund To A 7.2% Distribution Yield

Virtus Artificial Intelligence & Technology Opportunities Fund

Blackrock Core Bond Trust

BlackRock Science & Technology

Flaherty & Crumrine Dynamic Preferred & Income Fund

DoubleLine Income Solutions Fund

Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund

Gabelli Dividend & Income Trust

GGM Macro Alignment ETF

John Hancock Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund

Macquarie Global Infrastructure Total Return Fund Inc

Nuveen Select Tax-Free Income Portfolio

PIMCO Corporate & Income Strategy Fund

PIMCO Dynamic Income Fund

Cohen & Steers Select Preferred and Income Fund

A reliable selection criterion for building a portfolio of funds that are likely to produce above-average returns over the long haul is the goal of every CEF investor. For me, the flexible combination of a positive NAV since inception, discount on NAV, and leverage represents a practical rule of thumb for long-term CEF investing.

CEF Focus Investing - My Rule Of Thumb In Action

CSQ has a solid track record of performance, now hitting near all-time highs since its inception in 2004.

News for Calamos Strategic Total Return Fund ETF (CSQ)