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Is Fidelity Equity Dividend Income (FEQTX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors hoping to find a Large Cap Value fund could think about starting with Fidelity Equity Dividend Income (FEQTX - Free Report) . FEQTX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FEQTX is classified in the Large Cap Value segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Investors interested in a stable income stream fund these mutual funds very appealing because they have a unique investing strategy. Large Cap Value funds invest in stocks with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more, but whose share prices do not reflect their intrinsic value. This tactic often leads to low P/E ratios and high dividend yields; however, these funds'high growth opportunity are often slowed, as large-cap securities are generally in stable industries with low to moderate growth prospects.
History of Fund/Manager
FEQTX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Equity Dividend Income debuted in August of 1990. Since then, FEQTX has accumulated assets of about $5.21 billion, according to the most recently available information. John Sheehy is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2017.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FEQTX has a 5-year annualized total return of 9.48% and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3 -year annualized total return of 7.07%, 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 15.34%, the standard deviation of FEQTX over the past three years is 15.2%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 18.24% compared to the category average of 17.12%. 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. FEQTX has a 5-year beta of 0.88, which means it 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -1.98, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, FEQTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.57% compared to the category average of 0.93%. FEQTX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Equity Dividend Income ( FEQTX ) 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.
For additional information on the Large Cap Value area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into FEQTX too for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.
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Is Fidelity Equity Dividend Income (FEQTX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Large Cap Value fund could think about starting with Fidelity Equity Dividend Income (FEQTX - Free Report) . FEQTX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FEQTX is classified in the Large Cap Value segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Investors interested in a stable income stream fund these mutual funds very appealing because they have a unique investing strategy. Large Cap Value funds invest in stocks with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more, but whose share prices do not reflect their intrinsic value. This tactic often leads to low P/E ratios and high dividend yields; however, these funds'high growth opportunity are often slowed, as large-cap securities are generally in stable industries with low to moderate growth prospects.
History of Fund/Manager
FEQTX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Equity Dividend Income debuted in August of 1990. Since then, FEQTX has accumulated assets of about $5.21 billion, according to the most recently available information. John Sheehy is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2017.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FEQTX has a 5-year annualized total return of 9.48% and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3 -year annualized total return of 7.07%, 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 15.34%, the standard deviation of FEQTX over the past three years is 15.2%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 18.24% compared to the category average of 17.12%. 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. FEQTX has a 5-year beta of 0.88, which means it 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -1.98, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, FEQTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.57% compared to the category average of 0.93%. FEQTX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Equity Dividend Income ( FEQTX ) 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.
For additional information on the Large Cap Value area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into FEQTX too for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.