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Should You Invest in the SPDR S&P Transportation ETF (XTN)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Industrials - Transportation/Shipping segment of the equity market, look no further than the SPDR S&P Transportation ETF (XTN - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 01/26/2011.

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.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Industrials - Transportation/Shipping is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 10, placing it in bottom 38%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $219.25 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Transportation/Shipping segment of the equity market. XTN seeks to match the performance of the S&P Transportation Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P Transportation Select Industry Index represents the transportation segment of the S&P Total Market 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 0.89%.

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 in the Industrials sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Fedex Corporation (FDX - Free Report) accounts for about 2.68% of total assets, followed by Lyft Inc. Class A (LYFT - Free Report) and Joby Aviation Inc. (JOBY - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 24.82% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 8.63% so far this year and is down about -7.29% in the last one year (as of 05/18/2023). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $63.53 and $82.32.

The ETF has a beta of 1.32 and standard deviation of 27.56% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 49 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P Transportation 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, XTN is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Industrials ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

IShares U.S. Transportation ETF (IYT - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones Transportation Average Index and the U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS - Free Report) tracks U.S. Global Jets Index. IShares U.S. Transportation ETF has $805.71 million in assets, U.S. Global Jets ETF has $1.76 billion. IYT has an expense ratio of 0.39% and JETS charges 0.60%.

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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