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Is T. Rowe Price Health Sciences (PRHSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If investors are looking at the Sector - Health fund category, T. Rowe Price Health Sciences (PRHSX - Free Report) could be a potential option. PRHSX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes PRHSX as Sector - Health, a segment packed with options. Sector - Health mutual funds offer investors a focus on the healthcare industry, one of the largest sectors in the American economy. These funds can include everything from pharmaceutical companies to medical device manufacturers and for-profit hospitals.
History of Fund/Manager
PRHSX is a part of the T. Rowe Price family of funds, a company based out of Baltimore, MD. T. Rowe Price Health Sciences made its debut in December of 1995, and since then, PRHSX has accumulated about $9.11 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Ziad Bakri, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2016.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.61%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 0.35%, which places it in the middle 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 PRHSX over the past three years is 15.49% compared to the category average of 15.84%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.58% compared to the category average of 16.53%. 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. PRHSX has a 5-year beta of 0.74, which means it is likely to be less volatile than 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -1.59. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, PRHSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.80% compared to the category average of 1.04%. From a cost perspective, PRHSX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $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 Health Sciences ( PRHSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Health Sciences ( PRHSX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Sector - Health, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is T. Rowe Price Health Sciences (PRHSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Sector - Health fund category, T. Rowe Price Health Sciences (PRHSX - Free Report) could be a potential option. PRHSX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes PRHSX as Sector - Health, a segment packed with options. Sector - Health mutual funds offer investors a focus on the healthcare industry, one of the largest sectors in the American economy. These funds can include everything from pharmaceutical companies to medical device manufacturers and for-profit hospitals.
History of Fund/Manager
PRHSX is a part of the T. Rowe Price family of funds, a company based out of Baltimore, MD. T. Rowe Price Health Sciences made its debut in December of 1995, and since then, PRHSX has accumulated about $9.11 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Ziad Bakri, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2016.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.61%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 0.35%, which places it in the middle 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 PRHSX over the past three years is 15.49% compared to the category average of 15.84%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.58% compared to the category average of 16.53%. 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. PRHSX has a 5-year beta of 0.74, which means it is likely to be less volatile than 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -1.59. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, PRHSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.80% compared to the category average of 1.04%. From a cost perspective, PRHSX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $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 Health Sciences ( PRHSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Health Sciences ( PRHSX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Sector - Health, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.