Is Conestoga Small Cap Investors (CCASX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Small Cap Blend fund category, Conestoga Small Cap Investors (CCASX) could be a potential option. CCASX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes CCASX as Small Cap Blend, which is an area packed with options. Usually targeting stocks with market caps of less than $2 billion, a Small Cap Blend mutual fund lets investors diversify their funds among other kinds of small-cap equities. This can help reduce risk found in companies that have a lower stock market valuation.
History of Fund/Manager
Conestoga is responsible for CCASX, and the company is based out of Radnor, PA. The Conestoga Small Cap Investors made its debut in October of 2004 and CCASX has managed to accumulate roughly $805 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Robert Mitchell, has been in charge of the fund since October of 2004.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. CCASX has a 5-year annualized total return of 22.02% and is in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 20.37%, which places it in the middle 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 20.24%, the standard deviation of CCASX over the past three years is 21.7%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 18.06% compared to the category average of 16.51%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as 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. CCASX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 4.45, which means 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 92% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $4.76 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Industrial Cyclical
Other
Services
This fund's turnover is about 22%, so the fund managers are making 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, CCASX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.10% compared to the category average of 1.11%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, CCASX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Conestoga Small Cap Investors ( CCASX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Small Cap Blend funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare CCASX to its peers as well for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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