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Should iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Launched on 05/22/2000, the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $67.03 billion, making it the largest ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Blend

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.

Typically holding a combination of both growth and value stocks, blend ETFs also demonstrate qualities seen in value and growth investments.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.05%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.61%.

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 to the Industrials sector--about 22.20% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Financials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Jabil Inc (JBL - Free Report) accounts for about 0.80% of total assets, followed by Hubbell Inc (HUBB - Free Report) and Builders Firstsource Inc (BLDR - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 6.5% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

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

The ETF has lost about -1.14% so far this year and is up roughly 4.31% in the last one year (as of 10/24/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $235.82 and $272.40.

The ETF has a beta of 1.13 and standard deviation of 20.92% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 414 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, IJH is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Blend area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF (IWR - Free Report) and the Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Russell Mid-Cap ETF has $26.25 billion in assets, Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF has $49.98 billion. IWR has an expense ratio of 0.19% and VO charges 0.04%.

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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