Mutual Fund Bond fund seekers may want to consider taking a look at MFS Municipals High Income Fund A (MMHYX Quick QuoteMMHYX - Free Report) . MMHYX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various 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 $1.55 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. MMHYX has a 5-year annualized total return of 1.48% and it sits 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 1.61%, 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. Over the past three years, MMHYX's standard deviation comes in at 8.14%, compared to the category average of 13.95%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 7.86% compared to the category average of 13.75%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

With a beta of 1.07, this fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, MMHYX has a negative alpha of -0.65, 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 37.43% in medium quality bonds, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 21.38%, giving MMHYX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.

However, it is worth noting that 32 % of the bonds in this fund are not ranked, so take the average quality level with a bit of caution.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, MMHYX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.60% compared to the category average of 0.78%. MMHYX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should 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.