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Is PGIM Jennison Growth Z (PJFZX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If investors are looking at the Large Cap Growth fund category, PGIM Jennison Growth Z (PJFZX - Free Report) could be a potential option. PJFZX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

PJFZX is part of the Large Cap Growth section, and this segment boasts an array of other possible options. Large Cap Growth mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their market capitalization is over $10 billion.

History of Fund/Manager

PJFZX finds itself in the PGIM family, based out of Providence, RI. The PGIM Jennison Growth Z made its debut in April of 1996 and PJFZX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.82 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 13.11%, and it sits 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 31.06%, which places it in the top 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. Over the past three years, PJFZX's standard deviation comes in at 17.85%, compared to the category average of 12.57%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 21.51% compared to the category average of 14.11%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.21, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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 -4.54, 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.

The mutual fund currently has 82.63% of its holdings in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $697.02 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Retail Trade

Turnover is 34%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.

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, PJFZX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.69% compared to the category average of 0.95%. From a cost perspective, PJFZX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, PGIM Jennison Growth Z ( PJFZX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, PGIM Jennison Growth Z ( PJFZX ) looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Large Cap Growth 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 PJFZX too for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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