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Should You Invest in the VanEck Agribusiness ETF (MOO)?

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Launched on 08/31/2007, the VanEck Agribusiness ETF (MOO - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Materials - Agribusiness segment of the equity market.

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Sector ETFs are also funds of convenience, offering many ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Materials - Agribusiness is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 14, placing it in bottom 13%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Van Eck. It has amassed assets over $936.73 million, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Materials - Agribusiness segment of the equity market. MOO seeks to match the performance of the MVIS Global Agribusiness Index before fees and expenses.

The MVIS Global Agribusiness Index tracks the overall performance of companies involved in agri-chemicals, animal health and fertilizers, seeds and traits; farm/irrigation equipment and farm machinery; agricultural products, aquaculture and fishing, livestock plantations, and trading of agricultural products.

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 0.53%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.49%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Zoetis Inc (ZTS - Free Report) accounts for about 9.15% of total assets, followed by Deere & Co (DE - Free Report) and Bayer Ag .

The top 10 holdings account for about 55.68% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -13.73% so far this year and is down about -9.56% in the last one year (as of 10/23/2023). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $74.05 and $93.34.

The ETF has a beta of 0.95 and standard deviation of 18.18% for the trailing three-year period, making it a low risk choice in the space. With about 61 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

VanEck Agribusiness ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, MOO is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Materials ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

IShares MSCI Agriculture Producers ETF (VEGI - Free Report) tracks MSCI ACWI Select Agriculture Producers Investable Market Index. The fund has $184.88 million in assets. VEGI has an expense ratio of 0.39%.

Bottom Line

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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