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Should You Invest in the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF (XES)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Energy - Equipment and services segment of the equity market, look no further than the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF (XES - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 06/19/2006.

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. Energy - Equipment and services is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 16, placing it in bottom 0%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $337.93 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Energy - Equipment and services segment of the equity market. XES seeks to match the performance of the S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services Select Industry Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services Select Industry Index represents the oil and gas equipment and services 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 Equipment Index is a modified equal weight index.

Costs

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.35%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.74%.

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 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Liberty Energy Inc (LBRT - Free Report) accounts for about 5.05% of total assets, followed by Nov Inc (NOV - Free Report) and Weatherford International Pl (WFRD - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 44.93% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF has added about 9.48% so far, and it's up approximately 25.26% over the last 12 months (as of 03/22/2024). XES has traded between $67.10 and $99.83 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.82 and standard deviation of 42.44% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 33 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services 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, XES 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.

IShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF (IEZ - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Select Oil Equipment & Services Index and the VanEck Oil Services ETF (OIH - Free Report) tracks MVIS U.S. Listed Oil Services 25 Index. IShares U.S. Oil Equipment & Services ETF has $291.08 million in assets, VanEck Oil Services ETF has $2.22 billion. IEZ has an expense ratio of 0.40% and OIH charges 0.35%.

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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