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Is BlackRock Equity Dividend R (MRDVX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, consider BlackRock Equity Dividend R (MRDVX - Free Report) as a possibility. MRDVX has 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

MRDVX finds itself in the BlackRock family, based out of New York, NY. Since BlackRock Equity Dividend R made its debut in January of 2003, MRDVX has garnered more than $400.01 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by Tony DeSpirito who has been in charge of the fund since August of 2014.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. MRDVX has a 5-year annualized total return of 6.58% 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 10.99%, 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. Compared to the category average of 14.91%, the standard deviation of MRDVX over the past three years is 17.75%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 18.28% compared to the category average of 16%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.88, the fund is likely to be less 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. MRDVX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.94, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, MRDVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.27% compared to the category average of 0.98%. MRDVX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $100 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

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 similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, BlackRock Equity Dividend R ( MRDVX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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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