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Is Fidelity Dividend Growth Fund (FDGFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Fidelity Dividend Growth Fund (FDGFX - Free Report) is one possibility. FDGFX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

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 $5.37 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Zachary Turner, has been in charge of the fund since July of 2020.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.51%, and is 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 18.48%, 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. The standard deviation of FDGFX over the past three years is 17.9% compared to the category average of 19.13%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 19.59% compared to the category average of 17.14%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

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 1, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. FDGFX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -3.1, which means 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 93.74% of its assets in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $215.35 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Finance
  • Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is 48%, which means this fund makes 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, FDGFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.49% compared to the category average of 0.91%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FDGFX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Dividend Growth Fund ( FDGFX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on FDGFXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank 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.


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