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Is PRFHX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Bond funds, a place to start could be T. Rowe Price Tax Free High Yield Retail (PRFHX - Free Report) . PRFHX possesses 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

T. Rowe Price is responsible for PRFHX, and the company is based out of Baltimore, MD. T. Rowe Price Tax Free High Yield Retail debuted in March of 1985. Since then, PRFHX has accumulated assets of about $1.95 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, James M. Murphy, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2001.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 0.24%, and is 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 -2.61%, 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. The standard deviation of PRFHX over the past three years is 7.95% compared to the category average of 12.15%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 8.1% compared to the category average of 12.88%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

PRFHX carries a beta of 1.02, meaning that the fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a negative alpha of -0.43, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Ratings

However, it is worth noting that 41 % of the bonds in this fund are not ranked, so take the average quality level with a bit of caution.

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, PRFHX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.67% compared to the category average of 0.78%. From a cost perspective, PRFHX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 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, T. Rowe Price Tax Free High Yield Retail ( PRFHX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Bond 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 PRFHX to its peers as well for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.


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