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Is SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB - Free Report) was launched on 01/31/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Industrials ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.

There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.

Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by State Street Global Advisors. XHB has been able to amass assets over $2.32 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Industrials ETFs. XHB seeks to match the performance of the S&P Homebuilders Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P Homebuilders Select Industry Index represents the homebuilding 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 Homebuilders Index is a modified equal weight index.

Cost & Other Expenses

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

With one of the least expensive products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.35%.

XHB's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 0.51%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Representing 65.20% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Consumer Discretionary sector; Industrials and Energy round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Smith (a.o.) Corp (AOS - Free Report) accounts for about 3.55% of total assets, followed by Installed Building Products (IBP - Free Report) and Carlisle Cos Inc (CSL - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 34.64% of XHB's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 29.88% and was up about 67.76% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 10/16/2024), respectively. XHB has traded between $69.36 and $124.99 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.43 and standard deviation of 28.04% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 37 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Industrials ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Invesco Building & Construction ETF (PKB - Free Report) tracks Dynamic Building & Construction Intellidex Index. The fund has $404.09 million in assets. PKB has an expense ratio of 0.62%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Industrials ETFs.

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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