Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is T. Rowe Price New Era (PRNEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Having trouble finding a Sector - Energy fund? T. Rowe Price New Era (PRNEX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. PRNEX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes PRNEX as Sector - Energy, a segment packed with options. Sector - Energy mutual funds encompass a wide range of vastly changing and vitally important industries throughout this massive global sector. Oil and gas comprise the bulk of the exposure here, and carbon-based fuels are going to be the majority of assets in these funds. However, clean energy is starting to pick up steam.

History of Fund/Manager

PRNEX is a part of the T. Rowe Price family of funds, a company based out of Baltimore, MD. T. Rowe Price New Era debuted in January of 1969. Since then, PRNEX has accumulated assets of about $915 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Shinwoo Kim who has been in charge of the fund since June of 2021.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. PRNEX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.6% and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 4.91%, 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 18.21%, the standard deviation of PRNEX over the past three years is 19.72%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 21.96% compared to the category average of 20.5%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as the market at large. 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 -3.69, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, PRNEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.77% compared to the category average of 1.04%. PRNEX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that 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, even with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price New Era ( PRNEX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a great potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about PRNEX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


T. Rowe Price New Era (PRNEX) - free report >>

Published in