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

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, the SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Growth ETF (MDYG - Free Report) is 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 $1.80 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Growth

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.

Qualities of growth stocks include faster growth rates compared to the broader market, as well as higher valuations and higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. Further, growth stocks have a higher level of volatility associated with them. Even though growth stocks are more likely to outperform their value counterparts in strong bull markets, value stocks have a record of delivering better returns in almost all markets than growth stocks.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are 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 1.25%.

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.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector--about 24.60% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Financials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Hubbell Inc (HUBB - Free Report) accounts for about 1.33% of total assets, followed by Reliance Steel + Aluminum (RS - Free Report) and Builders Firstsource Inc (BLDR - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 10.91% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

MDYG seeks to match the performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Growth Index before fees and expenses. The S&P MidCap 400 Growth Index measures the performance of the mid-capitalization growth sector in the U.S. equity market.

The ETF has added about 4.24% so far this year and it's up approximately 6.59% in the last one year (as of 11/03/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $64.04 and $74.46.

The ETF has a beta of 1.08 and standard deviation of 21.46% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 255 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Growth ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, MDYG is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF (VOT - Free Report) and the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP - Free Report) track a similar index. While Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $10.09 billion in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $11.93 billion. VOT has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IWP charges 0.23%.

Bottom-Line

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.

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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