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Should SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Value ETF (MDYV) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Looking for broad exposure to the Mid Cap Value segment of the US equity market? You should consider the SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Value ETF (MDYV - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 11/08/2005.

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $1.59 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Value segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Value

Mid cap companies, with market capitalization in the range of $2 billion and $10 billion, offer investors many things that small and large companies don't, including less risk and higher growth opportunities. Thus they have a nice balance of growth potential and stability.

Value stocks are known for their lower than average price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios, but investors should also note their lower than average sales and earnings growth rates. While value stocks have outperformed growth stocks in nearly all markets when you consider long-term performance, growth stocks are more likely to outpace value stocks in strong bull markets.

Costs

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.15%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.56%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector--about 21% of the portfolio. Industrials and Real Estate round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Jones Lang Lasalle Incorporated (JLL - Free Report) accounts for about 0.99% of total assets, followed by Steel Dynamics Inc. (STLD - Free Report) and Signature Bank (SBNY - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 8.19% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

MDYV seeks to match the performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Value Index before fees and expenses. This Index measures the performance of the mid-capitalization value sector in the U.S. equity market. The Index consists of those stocks in the S&P MidCap 400 Index exhibiting the strongest value characteristics based on: book value to price ratio;earnings to price ratio & sales to price ratio.

The ETF has added about 30.14% so far this year and is up roughly 29.91% in the last one year (as of 12/13/2021). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $54.19 and $72.84.

The ETF has a beta of 1.24 and standard deviation of 29.65% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 312 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Value ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, MDYV is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Value segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The iShares Russell MidCap Value ETF (IWS - Free Report) and the Vanguard MidCap Value ETF (VOE - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Russell MidCap Value ETF has $15 billion in assets, Vanguard MidCap Value ETF has $15.47 billion. IWS has an expense ratio of 0.23% and VOE charges 0.07%.

Bottom-Line

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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