Is State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) a Strong ETF Right Now?

The State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) was launched on 06/19/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary ETFs category of the market.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.A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.Fund Sponsor & IndexBecause the fund has amassed over $284.35 million, this makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Consumer Discretionary ETFs. XRT is managed by State Street Investment Management. XRT, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the S&P Retail Select Industry Index.The S&P Retail Select Industry Index represents the retail sub-industry portion of the S&P TMI. 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 Retail Index is a modified equal weight index.Cost & Other ExpensesExpense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.35% for XRT, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.33%.Sector Exposure and Top HoldingsEven 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.XRT's heaviest allocation is in the Consumer Discretionary sector, which is about 78.7% of the portfolio. Its Consumer Staples and Energy round out the top three.When you look at individual holdings, Etsy Inc (ETSY) accounts for about 1.77% of the fund's total assets, followed by Odp Corp/the (ODP) and National Vision Holdings Inc (EYE).The top 10 holdings account for about 16.11% of total assets under management.Performance and RiskSo far this year, XRT has lost about -0.37%, and it's up approximately 1.3% in the last one year (as of 11/07/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $62.11 and $88.49.The fund has a beta of 1.24 and standard deviation of 23.78% for the trailing three-year period, which makes XRT a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 80 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .AlternativesState Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the Consumer Discretionary ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.Amplify Online Retail ETF (IBUY) tracks EQM Online Retail Index and the VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) tracks MVIS US Listed Retail 25 Index. Amplify Online Retail ETF has $147.61 million in assets, VanEck Retail ETF has $253.07 million. IBUY has an expense ratio of 0.65% and RTH changes 0.35%.Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Consumer Discretionary ETFsBottom LineTo 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.Boost Your Portfolio with Our Top ETF InsightsZacks' exclusive Fund Newsletter delivers actionable information, top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, straight to your inbox every week.Don’t miss out on this valuable resource. It’s free!Get it now >>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 State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks