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Is Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you have been looking for Large Cap Growth fund category, a potential starting could be Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX - Free Report) . FCNTX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FCNTX is part of the Large Cap Growth section, and this segment boasts an array of other possible options. Large Cap Growth mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their market capitalization is over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
FCNTX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Contrafund made its debut in May of 1967, and since then, FCNTX has accumulated about $113.14 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Will Danoff who has been in charge of the fund since September of 1990.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 18.16%, and is 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 19.01%, 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. Compared to the category average of 17.53%, the standard deviation of FCNTX over the past three years is 19.65%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 16.11% compared to the category average of 14.77%. 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 0.99, so it is likely going to be as volatile as the market at large. 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. With a positive alpha of 2.81, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 75.93% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $403.80 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
Retail Trade
With turnover at about 32%, this fund is making fewer trades than its comparable peers.
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, FCNTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.87% compared to the category average of 1.04%. From a cost perspective, FCNTX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Contrafund ( FCNTX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Large Cap Growth 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 FCNTX to its peers as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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Is Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you have been looking for Large Cap Growth fund category, a potential starting could be Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX - Free Report) . FCNTX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FCNTX is part of the Large Cap Growth section, and this segment boasts an array of other possible options. Large Cap Growth mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their market capitalization is over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
FCNTX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Contrafund made its debut in May of 1967, and since then, FCNTX has accumulated about $113.14 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Will Danoff who has been in charge of the fund since September of 1990.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 18.16%, and is 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 19.01%, 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. Compared to the category average of 17.53%, the standard deviation of FCNTX over the past three years is 19.65%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 16.11% compared to the category average of 14.77%. 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 0.99, so it is likely going to be as volatile as the market at large. 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. With a positive alpha of 2.81, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 75.93% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $403.80 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Finance
- Retail Trade
With turnover at about 32%, this fund is making fewer trades than its comparable peers.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, FCNTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.87% compared to the category average of 1.04%. From a cost perspective, FCNTX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Contrafund ( FCNTX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Large Cap Growth 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 FCNTX to its peers as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.