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Is SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Industrials ETFs category of the market, the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 01/31/2006.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $1.86 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Industrials ETFs. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the S&P Homebuilders Select Industry Index.

The S&P Homebuilders Select Industry Index represents the homebuilding sub-industry portion of the S&P Total Markets Index. The S&P TMI tracks all the US common stocks listed on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ National Market and NASDAQ Small Cap exchanges. The Homebuilders Index is a modified equal weight index.

Cost & Other Expenses

For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.35% for this ETF, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 0.71%.

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.

Representing 53.10% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Consumer Discretionary sector; Industrials and Energy round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Williams Sonoma Inc (WSM - Free Report) accounts for about 4.58% of total assets, followed by Carlisle Cos Inc (CSL - Free Report) and Topbuild Corp (BLD - Free Report) .

XHB's top 10 holdings account for about 37.36% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 6.50% so far this year and was up about 36.09% in the last one year (as of 06/10/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $69.36 and $111.59.

XHB has a beta of 1.44 and standard deviation of 27.16% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a high risk choice in the space. With about 37 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Industrials ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Invesco Building & Construction ETF (PKB - Free Report) tracks Dynamic Building & Construction Intellidex Index. The fund has $390.85 million in assets. PKB has an expense ratio of 0.62%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Industrials ETFs.

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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