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Is Franklin DynaTech A (FKDNX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, Franklin DynaTech A (FKDNX - Free Report) could be a potential option. FKDNX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

FKDNX is a part of the Franklin Templeton family of funds, a company based out of San Mateo, CA. The Franklin DynaTech A made its debut in January of 1968 and FKDNX has managed to accumulate roughly $10.30 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Rupert H. Johnson Jr.Has been in charge of the fund since January of 1968.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 22.43%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 22.49%, 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. Compared to the category average of 15.19%, the standard deviation of FKDNX over the past three years is 21.79%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 19.91% compared to the category average of 13.42%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.05, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 4.88, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, FKDNX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.79% compared to the category average of 1.29%. From a cost perspective, FKDNX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Franklin DynaTech A ( FKDNX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Franklin DynaTech A ( FKDNX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FKDNX? 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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