Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is T. Rowe Price Communications & Technology Fund (PRMTX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Have you been searching for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You might want to begin with T. Rowe Price Communications & Technology Fund (PRMTX - Free Report) . PRMTX has 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

T. Rowe Price is responsible for PRMTX, and the company is based out of Baltimore, MD. Since T. Rowe Price Communications & Technology Fund made its debut in July of 1997, PRMTX has garnered more than $3.64 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by James Stillwagon who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2019.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.24%, and is 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 -1.1%, which places it in the bottom third during this time-frame.

It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.

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. PRMTX's standard deviation over the past three years is 21.24% compared to the category average of 17.87%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 20.93% compared to the category average of 17.54%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.97, which means it is hypothetically as volatile as 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. PRMTX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.86, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, PRMTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.77% compared to the category average of 1.28%. So, PRMTX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, and each subsequent investment should be at least $100.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, T. Rowe Price Communications & Technology Fund ( PRMTX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Communications & Technology Fund ( PRMTX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about PRMTX? 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


T. Rowe Price Comm & Tech Investor (PRMTX) - free report >>

Published in