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Should You Invest in the iShares U.S. Energy ETF (IYE)?

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The iShares U.S. Energy ETF (IYE - Free Report) was launched on 06/12/2000, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Energy - Broad segment of the equity market.

While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.

Sector ETFs are also funds of convenience, offering many ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Energy - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 15, placing it in bottom 6%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $1.42 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Energy - Broad segment of the equity market. IYE seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Index before fees and expenses.

The Russell 1000 Energy RIC 22.5/45 Capped Gross Index measures the performance of the energy sector of the U.S. equity market.

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 0.39%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.86%.

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 96.80% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM - Free Report) accounts for about 23.28% of total assets, followed by Chevron Corp (CVX - Free Report) and Conocophillips (COP - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 69.70% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, IYE has lost about -9.06%, and it's up approximately 1.70% in the last one year (as of 05/22/2023). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $36.07 and $50.50.

The ETF has a beta of 1.38 and standard deviation of 34.61% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 46 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

IShares U.S. Energy ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, IYE is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Energy ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

Vanguard Energy ETF (VDE - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Energy 25/50 Index and the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE - Free Report) tracks Energy Select Sector Index. Vanguard Energy ETF has $7.38 billion in assets, Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF has $35.17 billion. VDE has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLE charges 0.10%.

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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