Small-Company Stock Fund
Investment Objective and Strategy
Is this fund a good choice for me?
The Small-Company Stock Fund may be appropriate if your goal is to grow your savings over the next several years by investing in smaller U.S. companies. You’re also comfortable with temporary — yet sometimes dramatic — fluctuations in your account balance based on the performance of the underlying stocks.
Investment objective and strategy
The fund seeks long-term growth of capital for the long-term investor and generally invests in stocks of companies that Homestead Advisers believes are attractive based on its investment process. To determine whether a stock is attractive, Homestead Advisers follows a bottom-up approach based on its fundamental research and consideration of a variety of factors, such as a company’s business, market opportunities, potential earning power, financial ratios, competitive advantages, and the experience and qualifications of the company’s management. Under normal circumstances, the fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowing for investment purposes) in common stocks of companies whose market capitalization, at the time of purchase, is within the range of the market capitalization of companies represented in the Russell 2000 Index.
Fund Profile
| Inception | March 04, 1998 |
|---|---|
| Asset Allocation | Stock |
| Benchmark | Russell 2000 Index |
| Ticker Symbol | HSCSX |
| CUSIP Number | 437769508 |
| Fee Structure | No Load |
| Gross Expense Ratio | 1.07% (Net 1.07%) (12/31/2023) |
| Gross Median Expense Ratio for Peer Group | 1.38% (Net 1.24%) (12/31/2023) |
| Transaction Fees | NONE |
The expense ratio shows the percentage of fund assets deducted annually to cover operating costs. Fund expense ratios shown here do not include acquired fund fees and expenses. If applicable, these additional costs are disclosed in the prospectus. For some funds, the investment advisor has agreed voluntarily or contractually (for at least the current fiscal year) to waive or reimburse a portion of expenses. The net expense ratio is the expense ratio minus the portion of expenses waived or reimbursed. Please see the current prospectus for additional details. The peer ratio is according to Morningstar Direct, based on each fund’s Morningstar classification.
Performance
Total Returns
As of 9/30/2024
Calendar-Year Total Returns
The total returns shown above represent past performance, which does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate. An investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be higher or lower than the performance data quoted. For performance data current to the most recent month-end, call 800.258.3030 or visit homesteadfunds.com.
Fund total returns include changes in principal value and reinvested dividends, income and capital gain distributions.
Equity securities generally have greater price volatility than fixed-income securities. The market price of equity securities may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. Equity securities may decline in value due to factors affecting the issuer or equity securities markets generally. As a general matter, securities of small and medium-sized companies tend to be riskier than those of larger companies. Compared to large companies, small and medium-sized companies may face greater business risks because they may lack the management depth or experience, financial resources, product diversification or competitive strengths of larger companies, and they may be more adversely affected by economic conditions. There also may be less publicly available information about smaller companies than larger companies. In addition, these companies may have been recently organized and may have little or no operational or performance track record.
Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against loss. It is a method used to help manage investment risk.
The Russell 2000 Index is a subset of the Russell 3000 Index representing approximately 10% of the total market capitalization of that index. It includes approximately 2000 of the smallest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership. Indices are unmanaged, and investors cannot invest directly in an index. Unless otherwise noted, performance of indices does not account for any fees, commissions or other expenses that would be incurred. Returns include reinvested dividends.
Growth of $10,000
The line chart compares the change in value of a $10,000 investment in the fund and the Russell 2000 Index over a 10-year period. The chart represents past performance, which is no guarantee of future results. Current performance may be higher or lower than that shown above. Returns and the principal value of your investment will fluctuate such that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. The fund’s average annual total returns are net of any fee waivers and reimbursements. Returns do not reflect taxes that the shareholder may pay on fund distributions or the redemption of fund shares.
Industry Rankings
For the month ending 12/31/2024
Morningstar |
|
| Category | Small Blend |
|---|---|
| Rating* |
★★★
|
*Overall, out of 596 funds, according to risk-adjusted return
Morningstar rated this fund, in Morningstar’s small blend category, 3 stars for the Overall period out of 596 funds, 2 stars for the 10-year period out of 413 funds, 4 stars for the five-year period out of 571 funds and 3 stars for the three-year period out of 596 funds for performance month ending 12/31/24. The Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or “star rating,” is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, close-end funds and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product’s monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The Morningstar Rating does not include any adjustments for sales loads. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-year, five-year, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.
©2025 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Ratings are updated regularly. More information is available at morningstar.com.
Share Price History
As of 01/17/2025
The chart plots daily share prices for the last 10 years. The interactive calendar will retrieve the share price for any business day since the fund's inception.
Composition
Sector Weightings
As of 9/30/2024
Top 10 Holdings
As of 9/30/2024
| Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. | 4.0% |
|---|---|
| Comfort Systems USA, Inc. | 4.0% |
| Federal Signal Corp. | 3.8% |
| Summit Materials, Inc. | 3.7% |
| Avient Corp. | 3.6% |
| Descartes Systems Group Inc. (The) | 3.4% |
| Integer Holdings Corp. | 3.3% |
| Altair Engineering Inc. | 3.0% |
| Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. | 2.8% |
| Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. | 2.8% |
| Total | 34.4% |
Portfolio holdings are subject to change without notice.
Portfolio Characteristics
As of 9/30/2024
| Net Assets | $239,798,179 |
|---|---|
| Number of Holdings | 51 |
Distributions
Income and/or capital gains distributions for this fund, if any, are listed in the table below for the current and previous calendar year. Mutual funds are required to pass through to their shareholders substantially all of the interest income and capital gains earned by the fund during the year. These distributions are paid on a regular schedule as shown in the table below.
2024 Earnings Distribution
| Distribution Type | Record Date | Declaration Date | $/Per Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long-Term Capital Gains | 6/27/24 | 6/28/24 | $0.139 |
| Long-Term Capital Gains | 12/13/24 | 12/16/24 | $1.2879 |
The record date is the date on which you must be a shareholder in order to receive a portion of the fund’s distribution.
The declaration date, typically the business day after the record date, is the date the amount of the distribution is announced and deducted from fund assets. On this day, the amount of the distribution is deducted from fund assets and calculated as a per share amount to be passed through to shareholders. The fund’s share price will decline by the amount of the distribution (plus or minus any share price change related to market activity). The following business day, shareholders will see their portion of the distribution posted to their account as either a cash dividend or dividend reinvestment.
Portfolio Management
Equity securities generally have greater price volatility than fixed-income securities. The market price of equity securities may go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. Equity securities may decline in value due to factors affecting the issuer or equity securities markets generally. As a general matter, securities of small and medium-sized companies tend to be riskier than those of larger companies. Compared to large companies, small and medium-sized companies may face greater business risks because they may lack the management depth or experience, financial resources, product diversification or competitive strengths of larger companies, and they may be more adversely affected by economic conditions. There also may be less publicly available information about smaller companies than larger companies. In addition, these companies may have been recently organized and may have little or no operational or performance track record.
Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against loss. It is a method used to help manage investment risk.
