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Is Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A (EKJAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A (EKJAX - Free Report) should not be a possibility at this time. EKJAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Allspring is responsible for EKJAX, and the company is based out of San Francisco, CA. Since Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A made its debut in February of 1998, EKJAX has garnered more than $1 billion in assets. Thomas Ognar is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2010.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 12.45%, and it sits in the middle 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 7.96%, which places it in the bottom 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, EKJAX's standard deviation comes in at 23.65%, compared to the category average of 16.31%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 20.95% compared to the category average of 14.62%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 1.11, 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -1.04, 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 98.66% of its assets in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $529.91 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Retail Trade
Turnover is 56.76%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than its comparable peers.
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, EKJAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.13% compared to the category average of 0.99%. From a cost perspective, EKJAX is actually more expensive than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A ( EKJAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about EKJAX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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.
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Is Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A (EKJAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A (EKJAX - Free Report) should not be a possibility at this time. EKJAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Allspring is responsible for EKJAX, and the company is based out of San Francisco, CA. Since Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A made its debut in February of 1998, EKJAX has garnered more than $1 billion in assets. Thomas Ognar is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2010.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 12.45%, and it sits in the middle 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 7.96%, which places it in the bottom 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, EKJAX's standard deviation comes in at 23.65%, compared to the category average of 16.31%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 20.95% compared to the category average of 14.62%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 1.11, 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -1.04, 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 98.66% of its assets in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $529.91 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Retail Trade
Turnover is 56.76%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than its comparable peers.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, EKJAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.13% compared to the category average of 0.99%. From a cost perspective, EKJAX is actually more expensive than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A ( EKJAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about EKJAX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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.