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Is State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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A smart beta exchange traded fund, the State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP - Free Report) debuted on 06/19/2006, and offers broad exposure to the Energy ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking 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
Managed by State Street Investment Management, XOP has amassed assets over $3.45 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Energy ETFs. XOP seeks to match the performance of the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index represents the oil and gas exploration and production sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Markets Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the U.S. common stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ National Market and NASDAQ Small Cap exchanges. The Oil & Gas Exploration Index is a modified equal weight index.
Cost & Other Expenses
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 cousins, other things remaining the same.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.35% for this ETF, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.84%.
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.
For XOP, it has heaviest allocation in the Energy sector --about 100% of the portfolio.
Looking at individual holdings, Apa Corp (APA) accounts for about 2.91% of total assets, followed by Venture Global Inc Cl A (VG) and Murphy Oil Corp (MUR).
XOP's top 10 holdings account for about 27.32% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, XOP has added about 40.49%, and was up about 59.65% in the last one year (as of 05/04/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $112.96 and $188.18.
XOP has a beta of 0.56 and standard deviation of 27.31% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a high risk choice in the space. With about 53 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Energy ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (IEO) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Oil Exploration & Production Index and the Portfolio Building Block Integrated Oil & Gas and Exp and Prod Index ETF (PBOG) tracks BITA GLOBAL OIL & GAS SELECT INDEX. iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF has $604.63 million in assets, Portfolio Building Block Integrated Oil & Gas and Exp and Prod Index ETF has $684.72 million. IEO has an expense ratio of 0.38% and PBOG changes 0.13%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Energy 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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Is State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) a Strong ETF Right Now?
A smart beta exchange traded fund, the State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP - Free Report) debuted on 06/19/2006, and offers broad exposure to the Energy ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking 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
Managed by State Street Investment Management, XOP has amassed assets over $3.45 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs in the Energy ETFs. XOP seeks to match the performance of the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.
The S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index represents the oil and gas exploration and production sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Markets Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the U.S. common stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ National Market and NASDAQ Small Cap exchanges. The Oil & Gas Exploration Index is a modified equal weight index.
Cost & Other Expenses
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 cousins, other things remaining the same.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.35% for this ETF, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.84%.
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.
For XOP, it has heaviest allocation in the Energy sector --about 100% of the portfolio.
Looking at individual holdings, Apa Corp (APA) accounts for about 2.91% of total assets, followed by Venture Global Inc Cl A (VG) and Murphy Oil Corp (MUR).
XOP's top 10 holdings account for about 27.32% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, XOP has added about 40.49%, and was up about 59.65% in the last one year (as of 05/04/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $112.96 and $188.18.
XOP has a beta of 0.56 and standard deviation of 27.31% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a high risk choice in the space. With about 53 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
State Street SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Energy ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (IEO) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Oil Exploration & Production Index and the Portfolio Building Block Integrated Oil & Gas and Exp and Prod Index ETF (PBOG) tracks BITA GLOBAL OIL & GAS SELECT INDEX. iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF has $604.63 million in assets, Portfolio Building Block Integrated Oil & Gas and Exp and Prod Index ETF has $684.72 million. IEO has an expense ratio of 0.38% and PBOG changes 0.13%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Energy 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.