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Looking for a Mutual Fund Bond fund? You may want to consider MFS Municipals High Income Fund A (MMHYX - Free Report) as a possible option. MMHYX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
MFS is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of MMHYX. MFS Municipals High Income Fund A debuted in February of 1984. Since then, MMHYX has accumulated assets of about $1.92 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.58%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 0.95%, 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. The standard deviation of MMHYX over the past three years is 7.75% compared to the category average of 13.22%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 6.19% compared to the category average of 11.59%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 0.87, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, MMHYX has a positive alpha of 0.61, 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, MMHYX has 41.2% in medium quality bonds, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 21.6%, giving MMHYX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.
However, it is worth noting that 28 % of the bonds in this fund are not ranked, so take the average quality level with a bit of caution.
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, MMHYX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.62% compared to the category average of 0.79%. MMHYX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, MFS Municipals High Income Fund A ( MMHYX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, MFS Municipals High Income Fund A ( MMHYX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Bond, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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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Is MMHYX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
Looking for a Mutual Fund Bond fund? You may want to consider MFS Municipals High Income Fund A (MMHYX - Free Report) as a possible option. MMHYX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
MFS is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of MMHYX. MFS Municipals High Income Fund A debuted in February of 1984. Since then, MMHYX has accumulated assets of about $1.92 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.58%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 0.95%, 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. The standard deviation of MMHYX over the past three years is 7.75% compared to the category average of 13.22%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 6.19% compared to the category average of 11.59%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 0.87, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, MMHYX has a positive alpha of 0.61, 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, MMHYX has 41.2% in medium quality bonds, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 21.6%, giving MMHYX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.
However, it is worth noting that 28 % of the bonds in this fund are not ranked, so take the average quality level with a bit of caution.
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, MMHYX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.62% compared to the category average of 0.79%. MMHYX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, MFS Municipals High Income Fund A ( MMHYX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, MFS Municipals High Income Fund A ( MMHYX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Bond, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.