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Should You Invest in the SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR)?
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Looking for broad exposure to the Industrials - Aerospace & Defense segment of the equity market? You should consider the SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 09/28/2011.
While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.
Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Industrials - Aerospace & Defense is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 11, placing it in bottom 31%.
Index Details
The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $1.92 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Aerospace & Defense segment of the equity market. XAR seeks to match the performance of the S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index represents the aerospace & defense sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Stock Market Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the U.S. common stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ National Market and NASDAQ Global Select Market. The Aerospace & Defense Index is a modified equal weight index.
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 0.35%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.57%.
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, Spirit Aerosystems Hold Cl A (SPR - Free Report) accounts for about 5.38% of total assets, followed by L3harris Technologies Inc (LHX - Free Report) and Huntington Ingalls Industrie (HII - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 42.89% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has lost about -3.62% and is up about 14.28% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 01/25/2024), respectively. XAR has traded between $109.60 and $136.33 during this last 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 1.08 and standard deviation of 22.34% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 34 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
Alternatives
SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense 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, XAR 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.
Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF (PPA - Free Report) tracks SPADE Defense Index and the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Aerospace & Defense Index. Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF has $2.62 billion in assets, iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF has $5.87 billion. PPA has an expense ratio of 0.58% and ITA charges 0.40%.
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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Should You Invest in the SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR)?
Looking for broad exposure to the Industrials - Aerospace & Defense segment of the equity market? You should consider the SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 09/28/2011.
While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.
Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Industrials - Aerospace & Defense is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 11, placing it in bottom 31%.
Index Details
The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $1.92 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Aerospace & Defense segment of the equity market. XAR seeks to match the performance of the S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index represents the aerospace & defense sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Stock Market Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the U.S. common stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ National Market and NASDAQ Global Select Market. The Aerospace & Defense Index is a modified equal weight index.
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 0.35%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.57%.
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, Spirit Aerosystems Hold Cl A (SPR - Free Report) accounts for about 5.38% of total assets, followed by L3harris Technologies Inc (LHX - Free Report) and Huntington Ingalls Industrie (HII - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 42.89% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has lost about -3.62% and is up about 14.28% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 01/25/2024), respectively. XAR has traded between $109.60 and $136.33 during this last 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 1.08 and standard deviation of 22.34% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 34 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
Alternatives
SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense 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, XAR 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.
Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF (PPA - Free Report) tracks SPADE Defense Index and the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Aerospace & Defense Index. Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF has $2.62 billion in assets, iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF has $5.87 billion. PPA has an expense ratio of 0.58% and ITA charges 0.40%.
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.