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

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary ETFs category of the market, the State Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 06/19/2006.What Are Smart Beta ETFs?For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.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 & IndexThe fund is managed by State Street Investment Management, and has been able to amass over $508.04 million, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Consumer Discretionary ETFs. 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 ExpensesFor 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 XRT, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.74%.Sector Exposure and Top HoldingsMost ETFs are very transparent products, and disclose their holdings on a daily basis. ETFs also offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, though it's still important for investors to research a fund's holdings.XRT's heaviest allocation is in the Consumer Discretionary sector, which is about 78.7% of the portfolio. Its Consumer Staples and Healthcare round out the top three.Looking at individual holdings, Victoria S Secret + Co (VSCO) accounts for about 2.61% of total assets, followed by Realreal Inc/the (REAL) and Kohls Corp (KSS).The top 10 holdings account for about 18.76% of total assets under management.Performance and RiskThe ETF has added about 4.42% so far this year and it's up approximately 12.18% in the last one year (as of 01/07/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $62.11 and $89.06The fund has a beta of 1.17 and standard deviation of 22.98% for the trailing three-year period, which makes XRT a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 79 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .AlternativesState Street SPDR S&P Retail ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Consumer Discretionary ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could 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 $149.99 million in assets, VanEck Retail ETF has $253.84 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