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Is Vanguard Equity Income Investor (VEIPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Large Cap Value fund? Starting with Vanguard Equity Income Investor (VEIPX - Free Report) is one possibility. VEIPX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

VEIPX is one of many Large Cap Value mutual funds to choose from. These funds invest in equities with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more, but whose share prices do not reflect their intrinsic value. This strategy can often produce low P/E ratios and high dividend yields; however, growth levels are oftentimes cut back. These funds' high growth opportunities are slowed even more since large-cap stocks are usually in more stable industries with low to moderate growth prospects. Thus, investors interested in a stable income stream find Large Cap Value funds very appealing.

History of Fund/Manager

Vanguard Group is based in Malvern, PA, and is the manager of VEIPX. Vanguard Equity Income Investor debuted in March of 1988. Since then, VEIPX has accumulated assets of about $5.16 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Sharon Hill who has been in charge of the fund since February of 2021.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 13.7%, and is in the top 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 13.41%, 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, VEIPX's standard deviation comes in at 11.34%, compared to the category average of 11.87%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.46% compared to the category average of 13.58%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.74, the fund is likely to be less 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 1.66, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, VEIPX is a no load fund and it has an expense ratio of 0.26%.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $3,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1.

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

Bottom Line

This puts this fund from Vanguard Group in the top 20% of all mutual funds we have a rank on right now. As a result, this is likely an excellent choice for investors seeking an option in the Large Cap Value category.

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 VEIPX too for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.

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