Is T. Rowe Price Growth Stock I (PRUFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Large Cap Growth fund? T. Rowe Price Growth Stock I (PRUFX) is a potential starting point. PRUFX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
PRUFX is part of the Large Cap Growth section, and this segment boasts an array of other possible options. Large Cap Growth mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their market capitalization is over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
PRUFX is a part of the T. Rowe Price family of funds, a company based out of Baltimore, MD. The T. Rowe Price Growth Stock I made its debut in September of 2015 and PRUFX has managed to accumulate roughly $15.55 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Joseph Fath, has been in charge of the fund since September of 2015.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. PRUFX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.83% and it sits in the bottom 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 12.9%, 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.
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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 14.94%, the standard deviation of PRUFX over the past three years is 19.23%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 20.19% compared to the category average of 14.78%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 1.13, the fund is likely to be more 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. PRUFX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -4.29, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.