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Is Fidelity Series Growth Company (FCGSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Fidelity Series Growth Company (FCGSX - Free Report) . FCGSX has 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

FCGSX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Series Growth Company debuted in November of 2013. Since then, FCGSX has accumulated assets of about $11.39 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Steven Wymer who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2013.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. FCGSX has a 5-year annualized total return of 21.43% 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 22.12%, 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. FCGSX's standard deviation over the past three years is 24.5% compared to the category average of 21.19%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 21.88% compared to the category average of 18.76%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FCGSX has a 5-year beta of 1.19, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. With a positive alpha of 5.36, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, FCGSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.12% compared to the category average of 0.99%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FCGSX is actually more expensive than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Series Growth Company ( FCGSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Fidelity Series Growth Company ( FCGSX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on FCGSXin 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. 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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