Should You Invest in the iShares U.S. Infrastructure ETF (IFRA)?
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.
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. Utilities - Infrastructure is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 3, placing it in top 19%.
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $2.40 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Utilities - Infrastructure segment of the equity market. IFRA seeks to match the performance of the NYSE FACTSET U.S. INFRASTRUCTURE INDEX before fees and expenses.
The NYSE FactSet U.S. Infrastructure Index comprises of equities of U.S. companies that have infrastructure exposure and that could benefit from a potential increase in domestic infrastructure activities.
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 0.30%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.93%.
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Utilities sector--about 41.70% of the portfolio. Industrials and Materials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Nrg Energy Inc (NRG) accounts for about 0.99% of total assets, followed by Compass Minerals International Inc (CMP) and Constellation Energy Corp (CEG).
The top 10 holdings account for about 6.35% of total assets under management.
The ETF has added about 2.99% so far this year and was up about 10.52% in the last one year (as of 05/26/2025). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $40.97 and $51.71.
The ETF has a beta of 0.98 and standard deviation of 18.81% for the trailing three-year period. With about 162 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
IShares U.S. Infrastructure 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, IFRA is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Utilities/Infrastructure ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
IShares Global Infrastructure ETF (IGF) tracks S&P Global Infrastructure Index and the Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE) tracks INDXX U.S. Infrastructure Development Index. IShares Global Infrastructure ETF has $6.91 billion in assets, Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF has $8.16 billion. IGF has an expense ratio of 0.42% and PAVE charges 0.47%.
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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iShares U.S. Infrastructure ETF (IFRA): ETF Research Reports
NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Constellation Energy Corporation (CEG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
iShares Global Infrastructure ETF (IGF): ETF Research Reports
Compass Minerals International, Inc. (CMP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Global X U.S. Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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