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

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Energy - Equipment and services segment of the equity market, the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF (XES - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 06/19/2006.

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Sector ETFs are also funds of convenience, offering many ways 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 15, placing it in bottom 6%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $225.49 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 1.12%.

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 Energy sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Baker Hughes Co (BKR - Free Report) accounts for about 5.47% of total assets, followed by Helmerich + Payne (HP - Free Report) and Cactus Inc A (WHD - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 50.04% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Equipment & Services ETF has added roughly 1.39% so far, and is up about 1.66% over the last 12 months (as of 11/27/2024). XES has traded between $76.26 and $98.48 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.73 and standard deviation of 38.96% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 32 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 $156.20 million in assets, VanEck Oil Services ETF has $1.78 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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