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Is T. Rowe Price Value Fund (TRVLX) 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 T. Rowe Price Value Fund (TRVLX - Free Report) . TRVLX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

TRVLX finds itself in the T. Rowe Price family, based out of Baltimore, MD. The T. Rowe Price Value Fund made its debut in September of 1994 and TRVLX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.34 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Ryan S. Hedrick, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2023.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.61%, 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 11.97%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.

It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.

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 15.2%, the standard deviation of TRVLX over the past three years is 16.64%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 18.08% compared to the category average of 16.35%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.9, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less 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. With a negative alpha of -1.36, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.

Currently, this mutual fund is holding 86.36% in stocks and it has 7.75% of assets in foreign securities. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Finance
  • Technology
  • Industrial Cyclical
With turnover at about 69.4%, this fund is making more trades per year than the comparable average.

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, TRVLX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.71% compared to the category average of 0.98%. From a cost perspective, TRVLX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

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

Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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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