Aberdeen Investments, an investment management company, released its “abrdn U.S. Small Cap Equity Fund” Q1 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. US small caps experienced a significant drop in Q1 and a lower return than the broader US equities asset class, which also fell. In this environment, Class A shares of the fund returned -3.73% (w/o sales charges) compared to a -9.48% return for the Russell 2000 Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.
In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, abrdn U.S. Small Cap Equity Fund highlighted stocks such as Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA). Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) is an infrastructure company that produces and markets products and services for the transmission, distribution, and measurement of water. The one-month return of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) was 0.48%, and its shares gained 31.14% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 14, 2025, Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) stock closed at $25.14 per share with a market capitalization of $3.94 billion.
abrdn U.S. Small Cap Equity Fund stated the following regarding Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“We initiated Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA), a leading supplier of fire hydrants, valves and other products used to deliver clean drinking water. We believe the company can benefit from secular growth drivers, such as the repair of aging water infrastructure, and that the approaching completion of a multi-year capital investment programme could potentially improve profitability.”
A plumber crouched in a crawlspace, working on a pipe repair project for residential construction.
Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 35 hedge fund portfolios held Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 33 in the previous quarter. Mueller Water Products, Inc.’s (NYSE:MWA) consolidated net sales increased 3.1% to $364.3 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE:MWA) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the undervalued AI stock set for massive gains.