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Should Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF (CALF) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Launched on 06/16/2017, the Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 ETF (CALF - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Small Cap Value segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Pacer Etfs. It has amassed assets over $9.25 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Value segment of the US equity market.

Why Small Cap Value

There's a lot of potential to investing in small cap companies, but with market capitalization below $2 billion, that high potential comes with even higher risk.

Carrying lower than average price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios, value stocks also have lower than average sales and earnings growth rates. Looking at their long-term performance, value stocks have outperformed growth stocks in almost all markets. They are however likely to underperform growth stocks in strong bull markets.

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 0.59%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.08%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Consumer Discretionary sector--about 31.10% of the portfolio. Industrials and Information Technology round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Mueller Industries Inc (MLI - Free Report) accounts for about 2.43% of total assets, followed by Newell Brands Inc (NWL - Free Report) and Hanesbrands Inc (HBI - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 19.72% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

CALF seeks to match the performance of the Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows Index before fees and expenses. The Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows Index uses an objective, rules-based methodology to provide exposure to small-capitalization U.S. companies with high free cash flow yields.

The ETF has lost about -3.93% so far this year and was up about 11.28% in the last one year (as of 08/28/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $39.26 and $49.16.

The ETF has a beta of 1.20 and standard deviation of 24.56% for the trailing three-year period. With about 102 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows 100 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, CALF is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Value area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF (AVUV - Free Report) and the Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF (VBR - Free Report) track a similar index. While Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF has $13.03 billion in assets, Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF has $29.86 billion. AVUV has an expense ratio of 0.25% and VBR charges 0.07%.

Bottom-Line

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

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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