Have you been searching for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You might want to begin with PGIM Jennison Growth Z (PJFZX Quick QuotePJFZX - Free Report) . PJFZX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

PJFZX finds itself in the PGIM family, based out of Providence, RI. PGIM Jennison Growth Z debuted in April of 1996. Since then, PJFZX has accumulated assets of about $2.51 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. PJFZX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.03% and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 9.94%, which places it in the middle 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. Compared to the category average of 16.4%, the standard deviation of PJFZX over the past three years is 25.72%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 24.04% compared to the category average of 16.01%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.16, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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. PJFZX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.05, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.

Currently, this mutual fund is holding 89.7% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $295.78 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

• Technology
• Retail Trade

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, PJFZX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.69% compared to the category average of 0.99%. From a cost perspective, PJFZX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, PGIM Jennison Growth Z ( PJFZX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, PGIM Jennison Growth Z ( PJFZX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Equity Report, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.