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Should iShares S&P MidCap 400 Value ETF (IJJ) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Mid Cap Value segment of the US equity market, the iShares S&P MidCap 400 Value ETF (IJJ - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 07/24/2000.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $7.86 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, companies that fall under this category provide a stable and growth-heavy investment.

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. When you look at long-term performance, value stocks have outperformed growth stocks in nearly all markets. But in strong bull markets, growth stocks are more likely to be winners.

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 0.18%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.73%.

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 18.70% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Medical Properties Trust Reit Inc (MPW - Free Report) accounts for about 1.04% of total assets, followed by Reliance Steel & Aluminum (RS - Free Report) and Aecom (ACM - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 8.51% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

IJJ seeks to match the performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Value Index before fees and expenses. The S&P MidCap 400 Value Index measures the performance of the mid-capitalization value sector of the U.S. equity market. It is a subset of the S&P MidCap 400 and consists of those stocks in the S&P MidCap 400 exhibiting the strongest value characteristics.

The ETF has lost about -5.31% so far this year and is down about -1.72% in the last one year (as of 05/31/2022). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $97.56 and $113.35.

The ETF has a beta of 1.18 and standard deviation of 30.37% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 305 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares S&P MidCap 400 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, IJJ is an outstanding 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 $14.04 billion in assets, Vanguard MidCap Value ETF has $16.67 billion. IWS has an expense ratio of 0.23% and VOE charges 0.07%.

Bottom-Line

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds 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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