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Is T. Rowe Price Health Sciences (PRHSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you have been looking for Sector - Health funds, a place to start could be T. Rowe Price Health Sciences (PRHSX - Free Report) . PRHSX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes PRHSX as Sector - Health, a segment packed with options. Sector - Health mutual funds offer investors a focus on the healthcare industry, one of the largest sectors in the American economy. These funds can include everything from pharmaceutical companies to medical device manufacturers and for-profit hospitals.
History of Fund/Manager
T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of PRHSX. T. Rowe Price Health Sciences made its debut in December of 1995, and since then, PRHSX has accumulated about $11.53 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Ziad Bakri is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2016.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. PRHSX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.6% and it sits 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 5.11%, 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 PRHSX over the past three years is 17.12% compared to the category average of 13.68%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 16.57% compared to the category average of 13.3%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. In the most recent bear market, PRHSX lost 35.67% and underperformed comparable funds by 2.43%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.08, which means 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. PRHSX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 3.02, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, PRHSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.78% compared to the category average of 1.29%. So, PRHSX 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.
Bottom Line
Overall, T. Rowe Price Health Sciences ( PRHSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Don't stop here for your research on Sector - Health funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare PRHSX to its peers as well 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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Is T. Rowe Price Health Sciences (PRHSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you have been looking for Sector - Health funds, a place to start could be T. Rowe Price Health Sciences (PRHSX - Free Report) . PRHSX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes PRHSX as Sector - Health, a segment packed with options. Sector - Health mutual funds offer investors a focus on the healthcare industry, one of the largest sectors in the American economy. These funds can include everything from pharmaceutical companies to medical device manufacturers and for-profit hospitals.
History of Fund/Manager
T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of PRHSX. T. Rowe Price Health Sciences made its debut in December of 1995, and since then, PRHSX has accumulated about $11.53 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Ziad Bakri is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2016.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. PRHSX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.6% and it sits 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 5.11%, 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 PRHSX over the past three years is 17.12% compared to the category average of 13.68%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 16.57% compared to the category average of 13.3%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. In the most recent bear market, PRHSX lost 35.67% and underperformed comparable funds by 2.43%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.08, which means 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. PRHSX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 3.02, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, PRHSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.78% compared to the category average of 1.29%. So, PRHSX 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.
Bottom Line
Overall, T. Rowe Price Health Sciences ( PRHSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Don't stop here for your research on Sector - Health funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare PRHSX to its peers as well 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.