Is T. Rowe Price Media & Telecomm (PRMTX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Sector - Tech fund seekers should consider taking a look at T. Rowe Price Media & Telecomm (PRMTX). PRMTX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and PRMTX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.

History of Fund/Manager

T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of PRMTX. The T. Rowe Price Media & Telecomm made its debut in July of 1997 and PRMTX has managed to accumulate roughly $10.14 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by James Stillwagon who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2019.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 24.95%, and it sits in the top 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 27.67%, which places it in the top 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. PRMTX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.28% compared to the category average of 16.14%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 15.7% compared to the category average of 13.61%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.86, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. PRMTX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 9.05, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, PRMTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.75% compared to the category average of 1.35%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PRMTX 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.

Bottom Line

Overall, T. Rowe Price Media & Telecomm ( PRMTX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Media & Telecomm ( PRMTX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Sector - Tech area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into PRMTX too for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.