Advertisement
Australia markets close in 3 hours 29 minutes

  • ALL ORDS

    7,844.10
    -93.40 (-1.18%)
     

  • ASX 200

    7,582.70
    -100.30 (-1.31%)
     

  • AUD/USD

    0.6526
    +0.0002 (+0.04%)
     

  • OIL

    83.82
    +0.25 (+0.30%)
     

  • GOLD

    2,346.10
    +3.60 (+0.15%)
     

  • Bitcoin AUD

    98,715.51
    +326.10 (+0.33%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,392.48
    +9.91 (+0.72%)
     

  • AUD/EUR

    0.6083
    +0.0010 (+0.16%)
     

  • AUD/NZD

    1.0942
    -0.0016 (-0.14%)
     

  • NZX 50

    11,849.84
    -96.59 (-0.81%)
     

  • NASDAQ

    17,430.50
    -96.30 (-0.55%)
     

  • FTSE

    8,078.86
    +38.48 (+0.48%)
     

  • Dow Jones

    38,085.80
    -375.12 (-0.98%)
     

  • DAX

    17,917.28
    -171.42 (-0.95%)
     

  • Hang Seng

    17,549.52
    +264.98 (+1.53%)
     

  • NIKKEI 225

    37,803.07
    +174.59 (+0.46%)
     

Should SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Growth ETF (MDYG) Be on Your Investing Radar?

Zacks Equity Research
·4-min read

If you're interested in broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, look no further than the SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Growth ETF (MDYG), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 11/08/2005.

The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $1.42 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Growth

Mid cap companies, with market capitalization in the range of $2 billion and $10 billion, offer investors many things that small and large companies don't, including less risk and higher growth opportunities. Thus they have a nice balance of growth potential and stability.

ADVERTISEMENT

While growth stocks do boast higher than average sales and earnings growth rates, and they are expected to grow faster than the wider market, investors should note these kinds of stocks have higher valuations. Further, growth stocks have a higher level of volatility associated with them. When you consider growth versus value, growth stocks are usually the clear winner in strong bull markets but tend to fall flat in nearly all other environments.

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 0.15%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.94%.

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 Industrials sector--about 17.70% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Camden Property Trust (CPT) accounts for about 1.53% of total assets, followed by Targa Resources Corp. (TRGP) and Steel Dynamics Inc. (STLD).

The top 10 holdings account for about 11.8% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

MDYG seeks to match the performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Growth Index before fees and expenses. The S&P MidCap 400 Growth Index measures the performance of the mid-capitalization growth sector in the U.S. equity market.

The ETF has lost about -21.04% so far this year and is down about -13.30% in the last one year (as of 05/20/2022). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $63.17 and $84.

The ETF has a beta of 1.07 and standard deviation of 27.13% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 234 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Growth ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, MDYG is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The Vanguard MidCap Growth ETF (VOT) and the iShares Russell MidCap Growth ETF (IWP) track a similar index. While Vanguard MidCap Growth ETF has $9.23 billion in assets, iShares Russell MidCap Growth ETF has $11.06 billion. VOT has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IWP charges 0.23%.

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.


Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
SPDR S&P 400 Mid Cap Growth ETF (MDYG): ETF Research Reports
 
Steel Dynamics, Inc. (STLD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Camden Property Trust (CPT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Targa Resources, Inc. (TRGP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
iShares Russell MidCap Growth ETF (IWP): ETF Research Reports
 
Vanguard MidCap Growth ETF (VOT): ETF Research Reports
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
 
Zacks Investment Research