Looking for a Large Cap Growth fund? You may want to consider Fidelity Contrafund K (FCNKX) as a possible option. FCNKX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify FCNKX in the Large Cap Growth category, an area rife with potential choices. Large Cap Growth funds invest in many large U.S. companies that are expected to grow much faster compared to other large-cap stocks. To be considered large-cap, companies must have a market cap over $10 billion.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is responsible for FCNKX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Since Fidelity Contrafund K made its debut in May of 2008, FCNKX has garnered more than $20.56 billion in assets. Will Danoff is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2008.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FCNKX has a 5-year annualized total return of 19.26% 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 18.93%, 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. FCNKX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.81% compared to the category average of 17.36%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.66% compared to the category average of 14.47%. 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 0.98, which means it is hypothetically as volatile as 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. FCNKX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 2.93, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.

As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 80.36% of its assets in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $403.64 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

1. Technology

2. Finance

3. Retail Trade

Turnover is about 32%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than its comparable peers.

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, FCNKX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.78% compared to the category average of 1.03%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FCNKX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Contrafund K ( FCNKX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Large Cap Growth segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
Get Your Free (FCNKX): Fund Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research