If you’ve been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, you might want to consider passing on by T. Rowe Price European Stock (PRESX – Free Report) as a possibility. PRESX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of PRESX. Since T. Rowe Price European Stock made its debut in February of 1990, PRESX has garnered more than $565 million in assets. Tobias Mueller is the fund’s current manager and has held that role since July of 2020.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.01%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 2.4%, 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. Compared to the category average of 20.54%, the standard deviation of PRESX over the past three years is 22.58%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 19.34% compared to the category average of 17.71%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.94, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -6.48. This means 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, PRESX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1% compared to the category average of 1.31%. PRESX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
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 European Stock ( PRESX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price European Stock ( PRESX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about PRESX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
