Having trouble finding a Large Cap Blend fund? Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund (VDIGX) is a potential starting point. VDIGX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
VDIGX is part of the Large Cap Blend section, an area that boasts an array of many possible options. Large Cap Blend mutual funds most often invest in firms with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. By investing in bigger companies, these funds offer more stability, and are often well-suited for investors with a ” buy and hold ” mindset. Blended funds mix large, established companies into their holdings, which gives investors exposure to both value and growth at the same time.
History of Fund/Manager
VDIGX is a part of the Vanguard Group family of funds, a company based out of Malvern, PA. Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund debuted in May of 1992. Since then, VDIGX has accumulated assets of about $41.67 billion, according to the most recently available information. Donald J. Kilbride is the fund’s current manager and has held that role since February of 2006.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 10.3%, and is 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 11.16%, 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. Compared to the category average of 17.53%, the standard deviation of VDIGX over the past three years is 14.23%. The fund’s standard deviation over the past 5 years is 12.51% compared to the category average of 15.31%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.8, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. With a positive alpha of 0.8, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 80.66% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $174.34 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Non-Durable
- Industrial Cyclical
- Finance
- Health
- Technology
Turnover is 17%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.
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, VDIGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.27% compared to the category average of 0.98%. So, VDIGX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1.
Bottom Line
Overall, Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund ( VDIGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Vanguard Dividend Growth Fund ( VDIGX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Large Cap Blend 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 VDIGX too 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.
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