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Should You Invest in the First Trust Natural Gas ETF (FCG)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Energy - Natural Gas segment of the equity market, look no further than the First Trust Natural Gas ETF (FCG - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 05/08/2007.

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.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Energy - Natural Gas is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 1, placing it in top 6%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $917.67 million, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Energy - Natural Gas segment of the equity market. FCG seeks to match the performance of the ISE-REVERE Natural Gas Index before fees and expenses.

The ISE-Revere Natural Gas Index is an equal-weighted index comprised of exchange-listed companies that derive a substantial portion of their revenues from the exploration and production of natural gas.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.60%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.51%.

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.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Energy sector--about 98.30% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Western Midstream Partners Lp (WES - Free Report) accounts for about 5.12% of total assets, followed by Dcp Midstream, Lp and Hess Midstream Lp (class A) (HESM - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 38.12% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the First Trust Natural Gas ETF has added roughly 44.73% so far, and it's up approximately 42% over the last 12 months (as of 10/18/2022). FCG has traded between $16.22 and $30.82 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.98 and standard deviation of 54.06% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 50 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

First Trust Natural Gas 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, FCG is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Energy ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.


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Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Western Midstream Partners, LP (WES) - free report >>

First Trust Natural Gas ETF (FCG) - free report >>

Hess Midstream Partners LP (HESM) - free report >>

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