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Should iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF (IJK) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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The iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF (IJK - Free Report) was launched on 07/24/2000, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $9.92 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

With market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion, mid cap companies usually contain higher growth prospects than large cap companies, and are considered less risky than their small cap counterparts. Thus, companies that fall under this category provide a stable and growth-heavy investment.

While growth stocks do boast higher than average sales and earnings growth rates, and they are expected to grow faster than the wider market, investors should note these kinds of stocks have higher valuations. Further, growth stocks have a higher level of volatility associated with them. They are likely to outperform value stocks in strong bull markets but over the longer-term, value stocks have delivered better returns than growth stocks in almost all markets.

Costs

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.17%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.79%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector--about 30.10% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Information Technology round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Emcor Group Inc (EME - Free Report) accounts for about 1.49% of total assets, followed by Carlisle Companies Inc (CSL - Free Report) and Lennox International Inc (LII - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 6.32% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

IJK 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 of the U.S. equity market.

The ETF has gained about 24.14% so far this year and is up about 31.37% in the last one year (as of 12/09/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $76.03 and $99.46.

The ETF has a beta of 1.08 and standard deviation of 21.10% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 261 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, IJK 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 $16.29 billion in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $18.76 billion. VOT has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IWP charges 0.23%.

Bottom-Line

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they 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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