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Mutual Fund Bond fund seekers should consider taking a look at PGIM Floating Rate Income Z (FRFZX - Free Report) . FRFZX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
FRFZX finds itself in the PGIM family, based out of Providence, RI. PGIM Floating Rate Income Z made its debut in March of 2011, and since then, FRFZX has accumulated about $3.20 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.83%, 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 2.72%, 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. The standard deviation of FRFZX over the past three years is 10.82% compared to the category average of 14.64%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 8.65% compared to the category average of 12.7%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
FRFZX carries a beta of -0.26, 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 2.24, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, FRFZX 's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 87.97%. This means that the fund has an average quality of BBB, and focuses on medium quality securities.
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 0.71% compared to the category average of 0.94%. FRFZX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while 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, PGIM Floating Rate Income Z ( FRFZX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on FRFZXin the Mutual Fund Bond category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is FRFZX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
Mutual Fund Bond fund seekers should consider taking a look at PGIM Floating Rate Income Z (FRFZX - Free Report) . FRFZX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
FRFZX finds itself in the PGIM family, based out of Providence, RI. PGIM Floating Rate Income Z made its debut in March of 2011, and since then, FRFZX has accumulated about $3.20 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.83%, 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 2.72%, 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. The standard deviation of FRFZX over the past three years is 10.82% compared to the category average of 14.64%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 8.65% compared to the category average of 12.7%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
FRFZX carries a beta of -0.26, 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 2.24, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, FRFZX 's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 87.97%. This means that the fund has an average quality of BBB, and focuses on medium quality securities.
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 0.71% compared to the category average of 0.94%. FRFZX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while 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, PGIM Floating Rate Income Z ( FRFZX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on FRFZXin the Mutual Fund Bond category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.