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Should You Invest in the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP)?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Energy - Exploration segment of the equity market, the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 06/19/2006.

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.

Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Energy - Exploration 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 State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $4.25 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Energy - Exploration segment of the equity market. XOP seeks to match the performance of the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index represents the oil and gas exploration and production sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Markets Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the US common stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ National Market and NASDAQ Small Cap exchanges. The Oil & Gas Exploration Index is a modified equal weight index.

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 0.35%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.36%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Energy sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Texas Pacific Land Corporation (TPL - Free Report) accounts for about 2.93% of total assets, followed by Phillips 66 (PSX - Free Report) and Apa Corp. (APA - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 22.07% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF has added roughly 4.53% so far, and it's up approximately 36.84% over the last 12 months (as of 01/26/2023). XOP has traded between $104.92 and $169.15 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.90 and standard deviation of 57.07% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 62 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production 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, XOP is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Energy ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

Invesco Dynamic Energy Exploration & Production ETF (PXE - Free Report) tracks Dynamic Energy Exploration & Production Intellidex Index and the iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (IEO - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Oil Exploration & Production Index. Invesco Dynamic Energy Exploration & Production ETF has $311.35 million in assets, iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF has $1.09 billion. PXE has an expense ratio of 0.63% and IEO charges 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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