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Is Fidelity Mid-Cap Stock Fund (FMCSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Any investors hoping to find a Mid Cap Blend fund could think about starting with Fidelity Mid-Cap Stock Fund (FMCSX - Free Report) . FMCSX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FMCSX is classified in the Mid Cap Blend category by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Mid Cap Blend mutual funds usually feature a portfolio with stocks of various styles and sizes, allowing for diversification within a strategy that focuses on companies in the $2 billion to $10 billion market cap range. A mid-cap blend fund provides exposure to exciting growth potential, income opportunities, and value picks, while also attempting some level of stability through diversification.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is responsible for FMCSX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Mid-Cap Stock Fund made its debut in March of 1994, and since then, FMCSX has accumulated about $6.97 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Nicola Stafford, has been in charge of the fund since July of 2017.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 12.39%, and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 10.49%, 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. Over the past three years, FMCSX's standard deviation comes in at 15.34%, compared to the category average of 14.13%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 16.3% compared to the category average of 15.79%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.92, which means 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -1.28. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, FMCSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.67% compared to the category average of 0.93%. So, FMCSX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

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, Fidelity Mid-Cap Stock Fund ( FMCSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Mid-Cap Stock Fund ( FMCSX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mid Cap Blend 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 FMCSX 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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