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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights SPY, IVV, VOO, SPLG, and XLG

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – April 11, 2022 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. ETF recently featured in the blog include SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY - Free Report) , iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV - Free Report) , Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO - Free Report) , SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF (SPLG - Free Report) , and Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF (XLG - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

S&P 500 ETFs to Buy on Bullish Analyst Ratings

Wall Street logged its worst performance in two years, with the S&P 500 losing 4.9% in the first quarter. The combination of factors like skyrocketing inflation, a war in Ukraine and aggressive Fed rate hike bets led to risk-off trade. However, the companies on the S&P 500 got the most analyst Buy ratings in more than a decade.

In order to tap this bullishness, investors should bet on the ETFs that track the S&P 500 Index.

Bullish View

Wall Street analysts remained bullish on stocks as these have become cheap at the current levels. The S&P 500 is currently trading at P/E ratio of 25.92, down from 30.02 at the start of the year (read: U.S. Stocks Log Worst Q1 in 2 Years: Top-Ranked ETFs Shine).

According to new data from FactSet, analysts mostly had Buy ratings on stocks on the S&P 500 as a percentage of their total ratings during February and March in over a decade. Of the 10,821 ratings on companies tracked by the benchmark, 57.3% had an investment analyst recommendation to purchase their stock as of Mar 31. The last time, the percentage of Buy ratings exceeded 55% at the end of any month was at 55.8% in September 2011.

The optimistic outlook was likely driven by an increase in earnings estimates for S&P 500 companies over the past several months. Many companies on the index are expected to show double-digit revenue growth throughout 2022. Per the Earnings Trends, total S&P 500 earnings for the first quarter of 2022 are expected to be up 3.2% from the same period last year on 10.0% higher revenues.

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust tracks the S&P 500 Index and holds 506 stocks in its basket, with each accounting for no more than 7% of assets. SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust is heavy on the information technology sector while healthcare, consumer discretionary and financials round off the next four spots with a double-digit allocation each (read: 5 ETFs Up 20%+ in S&P 500's Best Week Since November 2020).

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust charges investors 9 bps in annual fees and trades in an average daily volume of 96.8 million shares. It has AUM of $412 billion and a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy) with a Medium risk outlook.

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF

With AUM of $333.7 million, iShares Core S&P 500 ETF is a lot smaller than SPY and less liquid, trading in an average daily volume of 7.5 million. It charges just 3 bps in annual fees, 6 bps less than the State Street product. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold) (read: 5 ETFs That Gained Investors' Love in Q1).

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF also directly tracks the S&P 500 Index and holds 507 stocks in its basket. It has amassed $292.7 billion in its asset base and charges investors 3 bps in annual fees. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF trades in an average daily volume of 7 million shares and has a Zacks ETF Rank #2.

SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF

SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF also follows the S&P 500 Index and holds 505 stocks in its basket with 0.03% in expense ratio. It has amassed $14.8 billion in its asset base and trades in a solid volume of 6 million shares a day on an average. SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF has a Zacks ETF Rank #2.

Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF

Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF follows the S&P 500 Top 50 ETF Index, which measures the cap-weighted performance of 50 of the largest companies on the S&P 500 Index, reflecting the performance of the U.S. mega-cap stocks. Invesco S&P 500 Top 50 ETF has been able to manage assets worth $2.4 billion but trades in a moderate volume of about 85,000 shares a day on average. XLG charges 20 bps in annual fees and has a Zacks ETF Rank #2.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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