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Which Healthcare Mutual Fund Should You Buy: PRHSX or PHSZX?

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One of the best ways to safeguard investments is by parking money in the healthcare sector. This is because demand for healthcare services does not change with market conditions. Many pharmaceutical companies also pay out regular dividends.

Companies that consistently offer dividends are financially stable and generate steady cash flows irrespective of market conditions. Mutual funds are the perfect choices for investors looking to enter this sector since they possess the advantages of wide diversification and analytical insight.

In such circumstances, investing in healthcare mutual funds seems prudent. However, choosing the right mutual funds for your portfolio can be quite tricky. To that end, let us find out which of the two funds discussed below is better.

T. Rowe Price Health Sciences Fund (PRHSX - Free Report)

This is a non-diversified fund that invests more than 80% of its assets in common stocks of companies engaged in various activities in the field of healthcare, medicine or life sciences. The fund mostly invests in mid- and large-capitalization companies.

This Sector-Health product has a history of positive total returns for over 10 years. Specifically, the fund’s returns over the three and five-year benchmarks are 19.3% and 17.8%, respectively. To see how this fund performed compared in its category, and other #1 and #2 Ranked Mutual Funds, please click here.

Meanwhile, as of the last filing, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Unitedhealth Group Inc were the top holdings for T. Rowe Price Health Sciences Fund.

This product, with a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy), was incepted in December 1995 and is managed by T. Rowe Price. PRHSX requires a minimal initial investment of $2,500.

PGIM Jennison Health Sciences Fund- Class Z (PHSZX - Free Report)

This fund aims for long-term capital appreciation. The fund invests the majority of its assets in securities of companies that function within the healthcare sector, such as pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, medical device manufacturers, healthcare service. The fund managers prefer to invest in those companies whose prices will increase over time.

This Sector-Health product has a history of positive total returns for over 10 years. Specifically, the fund’s returns are 16.2% over the three-year and 17.5% of the five-year period. To see how this fund performed compared in its category, and other #1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds, please click here.

Meanwhile, as of the last filing, Unitedhealth Group Inc and Humana Inc. were the top holdings for PGIM Jennison Health Sciences Fund- Class Z.

This product with a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 was incepted in June 1999 and is managed by PGIM. PHSZX requires no minimal initial investment.

To Conclude

While both PRHSX and PHSZX are buy-rated funds, upon having a closer look, we find that the latter is a clear winner. PHSZX has a history of providing higher returns compared to PRHSX at a considerably lower investment. Investors looking for high returns and value for money should opt for PHSZX.

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