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Should First Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers ETF (SDVY) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Mid Cap Value segment of the US equity market, the First Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers ETF (SDVY - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 11/01/2017.

The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $1.30 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Value segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Value

Compared to large and small cap companies, mid cap businesses tend to have higher growth prospects and are less volatile, respectively, with market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. Thus they have a nice balance of growth potential and stability.

While value stocks have lower than average price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios, they also have lower than average sales and earnings growth rates. Value stocks have outperformed growth stocks in nearly all markets when you consider long-term performance, growth stocks are more likely to outpace value stocks in strong bull markets.

Costs

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 counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.60%, making it one of the most expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.41%.

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 to the Financials sector--about 30.30% of the portfolio. Industrials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Boise Cascade Company (BCC - Free Report) accounts for about 1.15% of total assets, followed by Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LPX - Free Report) and Medifast, Inc. (MED - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 10.82% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

SDVY seeks to match the performance of the NASDAQ US Small Mid Cap Rising Dividend Achievers Index before fees and expenses. The NASDAQ US Small Mid Cap Rising Dividend Achievers Index is composed of the securities of 100 small and mid-cap companies with a history of raising their dividends and exhibit the characteristics to continue to do so in the future.

The ETF return is roughly 13.70% so far this year and is up about 8.06% in the last one year (as of 08/17/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $23 and $30.38.

The ETF has a beta of 1.20 and standard deviation of 23.19% for the trailing three-year period. With about 101 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

First Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers 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, SDVY is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Value area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF (IWS - Free Report) and the Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF (VOE - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF has $12.89 billion in assets, Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF has $15.85 billion. IWS has an expense ratio of 0.23% and VOE charges 0.07%.

Bottom-Line

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.

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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