Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Value Fund (TRMCX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

If you have been looking for Mid Cap Value funds, a place to start could be T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Value Fund (TRMCX - Free Report) . TRMCX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify TRMCX 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

T. Rowe Price is responsible for TRMCX, and the company is based out of Baltimore, MD. T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Value Fund made its debut in June of 1996, and since then, TRMCX has accumulated about $9.22 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. David J. Wallack is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2000.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.73%, 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 -1.2%, 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. Compared to the category average of 14.51%, the standard deviation of TRMCX over the past three years is 20.08%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 17.21% compared to the category average of 13.13%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. In TRMCX's case, the fund lost 47.46% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 4%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.

Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 1.08, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. TRMCX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -6.14, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Investigating 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

Right now, 98.4% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $16.52 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Finance
  2. Industrial Cyclical
  3. Non-Durable
  4. Other
Turnover is 31.9%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

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, TRMCX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.78% compared to the category average of 1.15%. TRMCX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.

Bottom Line

Overall, T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Value Fund ( TRMCX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

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 want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Value (TRMCX) - free report >>

Published in