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Is Franklin Growth A (FKGRX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Large Cap Growth fund seekers should consider taking a look at Franklin Growth A (FKGRX - Free Report) . FKGRX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify FKGRX in the Large Cap Growth category, an area rife with potential choices. Large Cap Growth funds invest in many large U.S. companies that are expected to grow much faster compared to other large-cap stocks. To be considered large-cap, companies must have a market cap over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
FKGRX is a part of the Franklin Templeton family of funds, a company based out of San Mateo, CA. The Franklin Growth A made its debut in March of 1948 and FKGRX has managed to accumulate roughly $9.42 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 11.67%, and it sits in the middle 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 13.36%, 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. Over the past three years, FKGRX's standard deviation comes in at 17.32%, compared to the category average of 13.31%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 15.05% compared to the category average of 12.19%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FKGRX has a 5-year beta of 1, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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 positive alpha of 1.75. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 99.3% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $207.78 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Industrial Cyclical
Health
Turnover is 4.91%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.
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, FKGRX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.83% compared to the category average of 1.06%. So, FKGRX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Franklin Growth A ( FKGRX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Franklin Growth A ( FKGRX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Large Cap Growth, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.
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Is Franklin Growth A (FKGRX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Large Cap Growth fund seekers should consider taking a look at Franklin Growth A (FKGRX - Free Report) . FKGRX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify FKGRX in the Large Cap Growth category, an area rife with potential choices. Large Cap Growth funds invest in many large U.S. companies that are expected to grow much faster compared to other large-cap stocks. To be considered large-cap, companies must have a market cap over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
FKGRX is a part of the Franklin Templeton family of funds, a company based out of San Mateo, CA. The Franklin Growth A made its debut in March of 1948 and FKGRX has managed to accumulate roughly $9.42 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 11.67%, and it sits in the middle 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 13.36%, 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. Over the past three years, FKGRX's standard deviation comes in at 17.32%, compared to the category average of 13.31%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 15.05% compared to the category average of 12.19%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FKGRX has a 5-year beta of 1, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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 positive alpha of 1.75. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 99.3% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $207.78 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Industrial Cyclical
- Health
Turnover is 4.91%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.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, FKGRX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.83% compared to the category average of 1.06%. So, FKGRX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Franklin Growth A ( FKGRX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Franklin Growth A ( FKGRX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Large Cap Growth, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.