If you have been looking for Large Cap Value funds, a place to start could be Vanguard Equity Income Admiral (VEIRX Quick QuoteVEIRX - Free Report) . VEIRX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Large Cap Value mutual funds invest in stocks with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more, but whose share prices do not reflect their intrinsic value; this value investing strategy often leads to low P/E ratios and high dividend yields, though growth levels are often curtailed. The high-growth opportunity of these funds are slowed even further, as large-cap securities are generally in stable industries with low to moderate growth prospects. Therefore, Large Cap Value funds are usually more appealing to investors who are interested in a stable income stream.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is responsible for VEIRX, and the company is based out of Malvern, PA. Since Vanguard Equity Income Admiral made its debut in August of 2001, VEIRX has garnered more than $48.44 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Sharon Hill, has been in charge of the fund since February of 2021.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VEIRX has a 5-year annualized total return of 10.39% and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 10.77%, 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 15.53%, the standard deviation of VEIRX over the past three years is 15.57%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 16.78% compared to the category average of 17.04%. This makes the fund less 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. VEIRX has a 5-year beta of 0.83, which means it is likely to be less 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -1.56, 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.

The mutual fund currently has 84.76% of its holdings in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $134.97 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

• Finance
• Non-Durable

This fund's turnover is about 48%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

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, VEIRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.18% compared to the category average of 0.94%. VEIRX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $50,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $1.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, Vanguard Equity Income Admiral ( VEIRX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on VEIRXin the Large Cap Value 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.