Yahoo Finance Is PDBZX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
Mutual Fund Bond fund seekers should consider taking a look at PGIM Total Return Bond Z (PDBZX). PDBZX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
PDBZX finds itself in the PGIM family, based out of Providence, RI. Since PGIM Total Return Bond Z made its debut in September of 1996, PDBZX has garnered more than $18.13 billion in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. PDBZX has a 5-year annualized total return of 0.77% and it sits in the bottom 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 -4.69%, which places it in the bottom 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. Compared to the category average of 13.41%, the standard deviation of PDBZX over the past three years is 7.25%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 7.28% compared to the category average of 13.95%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 0.92, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, PDBZX has a positive alpha of 0.24, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, PDBZX has 58.32% in high quality bonds rated at least 'AA' or higher, while 27.01% are of medium quality, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund has an average quality of AA, and focuses on high quality securities.
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, PDBZX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.49% compared to the category average of 0.92%. So, PDBZX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, PGIM Total Return Bond Z ( PDBZX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on PDBZXin the Mutual Fund Bond category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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