Having trouble finding a Large Cap Blend fund? Fidelity Dividend Growth Fund (FDGFX) is a potential starting point. FDGFX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
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.
FDGFX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Dividend Growth Fund made its debut in April of 1993 and FDGFX has managed to accumulate roughly $7.03 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Zachary Turner is the fund’s current manager and has held that role since July of 2020.
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FDGFX has a 5-year annualized total return of 13.92% and it sits 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 12.96%, which places it in the top 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, FDGFX’s standard deviation comes in at 16.11%, compared to the category average of 15.91%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 18.67% compared to the category average of 16.62%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund’s risk compared to the market as a whole. FDGFX has a 5-year beta of 0.98, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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’s 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -1.41, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.