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Is Meridian Contrarian Legacy (MVALX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you're looking for a Small Cap Value fund category, then a potential option is Meridian Contrarian Legacy (MVALX - Free Report) . MVALX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes MVALX as Small Cap Value, which is a segment packed with options. Known for investing in companies with market caps under $2 billion, Small Cap Value mutual funds represent good value because of many things; stocks in these funds offer low P/E ratios, high dividend yields, and better-than-average P/S ratios.
History of Fund/Manager
Meridian is based in Providence, RI, and is the manager of MVALX. Since Meridian Contrarian Legacy made its debut in February of 1994, MVALX has garnered more than $625.58 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by James England who has been in charge of the fund since December of 2001.
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 19.28%, 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 17.84%, 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, MVALX's standard deviation comes in at 25.91%, compared to the category average of 17.45%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 20.8% compared to the category average of 14.37%. 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 1.26, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -1.51, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
This fund is currently holding about 81.22% stock in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $16.34 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Finance
Technology
Other
Industrial Cyclical
This fund's turnover is about 76%, so the fund managers are making more trades in a given year than the average of comparable funds.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, MVALX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.12% compared to the category average of 1.25%. From a cost perspective, MVALX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, Meridian Contrarian Legacy ( MVALX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Meridian Contrarian Legacy ( MVALX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about MVALX? 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. 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 Meridian Contrarian Legacy (MVALX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you're looking for a Small Cap Value fund category, then a potential option is Meridian Contrarian Legacy (MVALX - Free Report) . MVALX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes MVALX as Small Cap Value, which is a segment packed with options. Known for investing in companies with market caps under $2 billion, Small Cap Value mutual funds represent good value because of many things; stocks in these funds offer low P/E ratios, high dividend yields, and better-than-average P/S ratios.
History of Fund/Manager
Meridian is based in Providence, RI, and is the manager of MVALX. Since Meridian Contrarian Legacy made its debut in February of 1994, MVALX has garnered more than $625.58 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by James England who has been in charge of the fund since December of 2001.
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 19.28%, 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 17.84%, 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, MVALX's standard deviation comes in at 25.91%, compared to the category average of 17.45%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 20.8% compared to the category average of 14.37%. 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 1.26, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -1.51, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
This fund is currently holding about 81.22% stock in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $16.34 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Finance
- Technology
- Other
- Industrial Cyclical
This fund's turnover is about 76%, so the fund managers are making more trades in a given year than the average of comparable funds.Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, MVALX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.12% compared to the category average of 1.25%. From a cost perspective, MVALX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, Meridian Contrarian Legacy ( MVALX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Meridian Contrarian Legacy ( MVALX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about MVALX? 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. 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.