There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that you should consider investigating is T. Rowe Price International Discovery (PRIDX Quick QuotePRIDX - Free Report) . PRIDX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of PRIDX. T. Rowe Price International Discovery made its debut in December of 1988, and since then, PRIDX has accumulated about $5.98 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Ben Griffiths, has been in charge of the fund since March of 2020.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 12.96%, and is 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 15.69%, 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. The standard deviation of PRIDX over the past three years is 19.84% compared to the category average of 16.83%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.35% compared to the category average of 14.91%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.96, the fund is likely to be less volatile than 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. With a negative alpha of -2.4, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, PRIDX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.18% compared to the category average of 1.16%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PRIDX is actually more expensive than its peers.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, T. Rowe Price International Discovery ( PRIDX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on PRIDXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.