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Is FRFZX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Bond funds, a place to start could be PGIM Floating Rate Income Z (FRFZX - Free Report) . FRFZX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

PGIM is based in Providence, RI, and is the manager of FRFZX. Since PGIM Floating Rate Income Z made its debut in March of 2011, FRFZX has garnered more than $1.65 billion in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.32%, and is in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 4.58%, 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. FRFZX's standard deviation over the past three years is 10.58% compared to the category average of 13.44%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 8.2% compared to the category average of 11.03%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

FRFZX carries a beta of 0.27, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 3.08, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FRFZX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.70% compared to the category average of 1%. FRFZX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

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, PGIM Floating Rate Income Z ( FRFZX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FRFZX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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