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Is T. Rowe Price New Era (PRNEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Sector - Energy category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is T. Rowe Price New Era (PRNEX - Free Report) . PRNEX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify PRNEX in the Sector - Energy category, an area that is rife with possible choices. Throughout the massive global energy sector, Sector - Energy mutual funds hold a wide range of quickly changing and vitally important industries. While oil and gas comprise the bulk of the exposure, carbon-based fuels will be the biggest group of assets in these funds, though clean energy is starting to pick up steam.
History of Fund/Manager
PRNEX finds itself in the T. Rowe Price family, based out of Baltimore, MD. The T. Rowe Price New Era made its debut in January of 1969 and PRNEX has managed to accumulate roughly $2.06 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Shawn Driscoll, has been in charge of the fund since September of 2013.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. PRNEX has a 5-year annualized total return of -2.26% 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 -3.16%, 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 PRNEX over the past three years is 16.67% compared to the category average of 15.78%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.94% compared to the category average of 16.2%. 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 PRNEX's case, the fund lost 54.94% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 1%. This could mean that the fund is a better choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. PRNEX has a 5-year beta of 1.05, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -10.33. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, PRNEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.69% compared to the category average of 1.56%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PRNEX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, T. Rowe Price New Era ( PRNEX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price New Era ( PRNEX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Sector - Energy area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into PRNEX too 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 New Era (PRNEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Sector - Energy category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is T. Rowe Price New Era (PRNEX - Free Report) . PRNEX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify PRNEX in the Sector - Energy category, an area that is rife with possible choices. Throughout the massive global energy sector, Sector - Energy mutual funds hold a wide range of quickly changing and vitally important industries. While oil and gas comprise the bulk of the exposure, carbon-based fuels will be the biggest group of assets in these funds, though clean energy is starting to pick up steam.
History of Fund/Manager
PRNEX finds itself in the T. Rowe Price family, based out of Baltimore, MD. The T. Rowe Price New Era made its debut in January of 1969 and PRNEX has managed to accumulate roughly $2.06 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Shawn Driscoll, has been in charge of the fund since September of 2013.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. PRNEX has a 5-year annualized total return of -2.26% 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 -3.16%, 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 PRNEX over the past three years is 16.67% compared to the category average of 15.78%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.94% compared to the category average of 16.2%. 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 PRNEX's case, the fund lost 54.94% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 1%. This could mean that the fund is a better choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. PRNEX has a 5-year beta of 1.05, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -10.33. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, PRNEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.69% compared to the category average of 1.56%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PRNEX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, T. Rowe Price New Era ( PRNEX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price New Era ( PRNEX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Sector - Energy area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into PRNEX too 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.