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Is Fidelity Small Cap Value (FCPVX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Have you been searching for a Small Cap Value fund? You might want to begin with Fidelity Small Cap Value (FCPVX - Free Report) . FCPVX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

The world of Small Cap Value mutual funds is an area filled with options, such as FCPVX. Small Cap Value funds invest in small companies with stock market valuation less than $2 billion. These funds offer more bang for an owner's buck, providing low P/E ratios, high dividend yields, and better-than-average P/S ratios.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FCPVX. Fidelity Small Cap Value made its debut in November of 2004, and since then, FCPVX has accumulated about $1.28 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Clint Lawrence who has been in charge of the fund since February of 2017.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FCPVX has a 5-year annualized total return of 3.69% and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of -0.52%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. FCPVX's standard deviation over the past three years is 21.47% compared to the category average of 16.1%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 18.02% compared to the category average of 14.2%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.09, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -10.09, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Investigating the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is principally on equities that are traded in the United States.

Right now, 98.82% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $3.11 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Finance
  2. Industrial Cyclical
  3. Other
  4. Technology
This fund's turnover is about 54%, so the fund managers are making more trades in a given year than the average of comparable funds.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, FCPVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.89% compared to the category average of 1.26%. From a cost perspective, FCPVX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Small Cap Value ( FCPVX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Small Cap Value ( FCPVX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Small Cap Value segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.


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