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Is Fidelity Low-Priced Stock K (FLPKX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Mid Cap Value fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Fidelity Low-Priced Stock K (FLPKX - Free Report) at this time. FLPKX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify FLPKX in the Mid Cap Value category, an area rife with potential choices. Mid Cap Value mutual funds aim to target medium-sized companies that possess strong value and income opportunities for investors. A mid-cap company usually holds a market capitalization of between $2 billion and $10 billion.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FLPKX. Since Fidelity Low-Priced Stock K made its debut in May of 2008, FLPKX has garnered more than $6.14 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Joel Tillinghast who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2008.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.15%, 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 9.66%, 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, FLPKX's standard deviation comes in at 10.3%, compared to the category average of 10.97%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 10.21% compared to the category average of 11.26%. This makes the fund less 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.

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FLPKX has a 5-year beta of 0.84, which means it 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -2.43. This means 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, FLPKX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.43% compared to the category average of 1.14%. From a cost perspective, FLPKX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Low-Priced Stock K ( FLPKX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.

Your research on the Mid Cap Value 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. 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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