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Should You Invest in the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Consumer Staples - Broad segment of the equity market, look no further than the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 12/16/1998.

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.

Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Consumer Staples - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 6, placing it in top 38%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $18.03 billion, making it the largest ETF attempting to match the performance of the Consumer Staples - Broad segment of the equity market. XLP seeks to match the performance of the Consumer Staples Select Sector Index before fees and expenses.

The Consumer Staples Select Sector Index seeks to provide an effective representation of the consumer staples sector of the S&P 500 Index.

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 0.10%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.55%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Consumer Staples sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Procter & Gamble Company (PG - Free Report) accounts for about 14.21% of total assets, followed by Pepsico Inc. (PEP - Free Report) and Coca-Cola Company (KO - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 65.92% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -2.17% so far this year and is down about -0.75% in the last one year (as of 05/31/2023). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $66.50 and $77.50.

The ETF has a beta of 0.58 and standard deviation of 14.18% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 39 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR 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, XLP is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Consumer Staples ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

IShares U.S. Consumer Staples ETF (IYK - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Goods Index and the Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Staples 25/50 Index. IShares U.S. Consumer Staples ETF has $1.73 billion in assets, Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF has $6.66 billion. IYK has an expense ratio of 0.39% and VDC 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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