We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Is Fidelity Dividend Growth Fund (FDGFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Read MoreHide Full Article
If you have been looking for Large Cap Blend fund category, a potential starting could be Fidelity Dividend Growth Fund (FDGFX - Free Report) . FDGFX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that FDGFX is a Large Cap Blend option, an area loaded with different options. More often than not, Large Cap Blend mutual funds invest in companies with a market cap of over $10 billion. Buying stakes in bigger companies offer these funds more stability, and are well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Additionally, blended funds mix large, more established firms into their portfolios, giving investors exposure to value and growth opportunities.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is responsible for FDGFX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Dividend Growth Fund made its debut in April of 1993 and FDGFX has managed to accumulate roughly $5.66 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Gordon Scott is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2017.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.06%, and is 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 10.37%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
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, FDGFX's standard deviation comes in at 10.36%, compared to the category average of 10.31%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 10.84% compared to the category average of 10.22%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In FDGFX's case, the fund lost 56% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 6.68%. This might suggest that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a bear market.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 0.94, the fund 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. FDGFX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.02, demonstrating that 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.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 93.87% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $129.63 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Finance
Industrial Cyclical
Non-Durable
With turnover at about 115%, this fund is making more traders than comparable funds in a given year.
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, FDGFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.49% compared to the category average of 0.96%. FDGFX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Dividend Growth Fund ( FDGFX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Your research on the Large Cap Blend segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Is Fidelity Dividend Growth Fund (FDGFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you have been looking for Large Cap Blend fund category, a potential starting could be Fidelity Dividend Growth Fund (FDGFX - Free Report) . FDGFX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that FDGFX is a Large Cap Blend option, an area loaded with different options. More often than not, Large Cap Blend mutual funds invest in companies with a market cap of over $10 billion. Buying stakes in bigger companies offer these funds more stability, and are well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Additionally, blended funds mix large, more established firms into their portfolios, giving investors exposure to value and growth opportunities.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is responsible for FDGFX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Dividend Growth Fund made its debut in April of 1993 and FDGFX has managed to accumulate roughly $5.66 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Gordon Scott is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2017.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.06%, and is 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 10.37%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
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, FDGFX's standard deviation comes in at 10.36%, compared to the category average of 10.31%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 10.84% compared to the category average of 10.22%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In FDGFX's case, the fund lost 56% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 6.68%. This might suggest that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a bear market.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 0.94, the fund 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. FDGFX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.02, demonstrating that 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.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 93.87% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $129.63 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Finance
- Industrial Cyclical
- Non-Durable
With turnover at about 115%, this fund is making more traders than comparable funds in a given year.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, FDGFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.49% compared to the category average of 0.96%. FDGFX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Dividend Growth Fund ( FDGFX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Your research on the Large Cap Blend segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.