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Is T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Adviser (PABGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Any investors hoping to find a Large Cap Growth fund could think about starting with T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Adviser (PABGX - Free Report) . PABGX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify PABGX 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

T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of PABGX. T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Adviser made its debut in June of 1993, and since then, PABGX has accumulated about $3.34 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Larry J. Puglia is the fund's current manager and has held that role since June of 1993.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 22.69%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 21.15%, 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. The standard deviation of PABGX over the past three years is 19.3% compared to the category average of 16.15%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 16.23% compared to the category average of 13.39%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.99, the fund is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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. PABGX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 4.84, which means 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 79.76% of its assets in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $405.61 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Technology
  2. Retail Trade
  3. Finance
With turnover at about 28.5%, this fund makes 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, PABGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.96% compared to the category average of 1.03%. From a cost perspective, PABGX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.

Bottom Line

Overall, T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Adviser ( PABGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Adviser ( PABGX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about PABGX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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.


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