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Should SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Growth ETF (MDYG) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, the SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Growth ETF (MDYG - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 11/08/2005.

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $2.92 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Growth

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. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.

Growth stocks have higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. While these are expected to grow faster than the broader market, they also have higher valuations. Also, growth stocks are a type of equity that carries more risk compared to others. When you consider growth versus value, growth stocks are usually the clear winner in strong bull markets but tend to fall flat in nearly all other environments.

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 0.15%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.07%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector--about 23.40% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Information Technology round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Builders Firstsource Inc (BLDR - Free Report) accounts for about 1.59% of total assets, followed by Deckers Outdoor Corp (DECK - Free Report) and Reliance Steel + Aluminum (RS - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 11.43% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

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

The ETF has gained about 11.48% so far this year and is up roughly 27.81% in the last one year (as of 03/15/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $64.80 and $85.45.

The ETF has a beta of 1.08 and standard deviation of 20.93% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 258 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Growth 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, MDYG is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF (VOT - Free Report) and the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP - Free Report) track a similar index. While Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $12.64 billion in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $15.20 billion. VOT has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IWP charges 0.23%.

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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