Having trouble finding a High Yield - Bonds fund? PGIM Floating Rate Income Z (FRFZX Quick QuoteFRFZX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. FRFZX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FRFZX is classified in the High Yield - Bonds segment by Zacks, an area full of investment possibilities. High Yield - Bonds funds come in below investment grade, and are referred to as " junk " bonds for this reason. Compared to their investment grade peers, these funds are at a higher default risk, but typically pay out higher yields while posing similar interest rate risks.

History of Fund/Manager

PGIM is responsible for FRFZX, and the company is based out of Providence, RI. PGIM Floating Rate Income Z debuted in March of 2011. Since then, FRFZX has accumulated assets of about $239 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. FRFZX has a 5-year annualized total return of 4.35% and is 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 3.51%, 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. Over the past three years, FRFZX's standard deviation comes in at 10.51%, compared to the category average of 12.64%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 8.25% compared to the category average of 10.74%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

FRFZX carries a beta of 0.23, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 2.77, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Ratings

Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, FRFZX 's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 84.85%. This means that the fund has an average quality of BBB, and focuses on medium quality securities.

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, FRFZX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.74% compared to the category average of 1.01%. FRFZX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, PGIM Floating Rate Income Z ( FRFZX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on FRFZXin the High Yield - Bonds category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.