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Is Dreyfus Technology Growth A (DTGRX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Sector - Tech fund? Dreyfus Technology Growth A (DTGRX - Free Report) is a possible starting point. DTGRX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and DTGRX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.

History of Fund/Manager

BNY Mellon is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of DTGRX. Dreyfus Technology Growth A made its debut in October of 1997, and since then, DTGRX has accumulated about $350.65 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Robert Zeuthen, has been in charge of the fund since March of 2022.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 14.84%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 3.28%, which places it in the bottom 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, DTGRX's standard deviation comes in at 27.98%, compared to the category average of 18.01%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 27% compared to the category average of 18.61%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.26, the fund is likely to be more 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -1.78, which shows 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.

As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 79.72% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $392.91 billion. Turnover is about 54.77%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than comparable funds.

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, DTGRX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.10% compared to the category average of 1.05%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, DTGRX is actually more expensive than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Dreyfus Technology Growth A ( DTGRX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Sector - Tech funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare DTGRX to its peers as well for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.


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