USMV - iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF

BATS - BATS Delayed Price. Currency in USD
59.98
+0.04 (+0.07%)
At close: 4:00PM EDT
Stock chart is not supported by your current browser
Previous Close59.94
Open60.14
Bid0.00 x 1200
Ask0.00 x 1200
Day's Range59.83 - 60.22
52 Week Range49.50 - 60.25
Volume1,948,209
Avg. Volume3,490,714
Net Assets25.7B
NAV59.95
PE Ratio (TTM)N/A
Yield1.85%
YTD Return14.90%
Beta (3Y Monthly)0.74
Expense Ratio (net)0.15%
Inception Date2011-10-18
  • 5 Safe Stocks to Buy This Summer
    InvestorPlace2 days ago

    5 Safe Stocks to Buy This Summer

    With the growing trade war with China, slowing economic growth in Europe and political problems here at home, there's a lot on investor's plates these days. That could explain why the markets have gone haywire over the last few weeks. With volatility rising and big market swings now a common occurrence, the stocks to buy these days may not be the high flyers, but those come with a hefty dose of safety.The stocks to buy these days are those with steady revenues, big cash balances and a hefty dose of dividends. The kind of equities that could be immune to the various geopolitical and economic events that are plaguing the markets currently.There are plenty of studies that show if a portfolio can have a smoother ride, then returns can be better over the long haul. Given the craziness and potential for doom and gloom, these less volatile safe stocks could be exactly what the doctored ordered.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips * 10 Names That Are Screaming Stocks to Buy But which are the safe stocks to buy today? Here are five that will help you ride out the summer with relative ease. McDonald's (MCD)Source: Shutterstock McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) needs no introduction. The burger joint is iconic at this point with millions of customers stepping into its restaurants daily. This flood of customers continues to produce ample revenues, cash flows and profits for MCD. The best part is that McDonald's tends to be pretty immune to the effects of the economy. People want their Big Macs and fries no matter what.That point alone makes it one of the best stocks to buy for the summer.But the burger joint is now adding a touch of growth to its safety. Over the last year or so, MCD has increased its use of technology in its restaurants. This has included updating its mobile apps, increasing options for online ordering, adding self-ordering kiosks and even began offering delivery via Uber (NYSE:UBER). However, the real win has been its forays into artificial intelligence and data mining via its buyout of Dynamic Yield. All of these initiatives are designed to boost revenues and margins.And it looks like they are working. Two years into MCD's Velocity Growth Plan and the golden arches are much more golden these days. Both sales and profits have jumped.With a yield of 2.32%. MCD stock is an ideal place to wait out the market's current volatility. Waste Management (WM)Source: Shutterstock We make a lot of trash and it has to go somewhere. Increasingly that job continues to fall toward Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM). WM owns the largest network of landfills, transfer stations, and recycling facilities in the industry. It's a massive moat that can only be matched by a few competitors. Because of this scale and virtual monopoly, Waste Management enjoys some pretty hefty pricing power.It has been successfully able to pass on price increases to customers.And WM keeps on getting bigger. The firm has been able to smartly use M&A to buyout smaller waste hauling operations to entrench its position in key areas. This includes its recent $4.9 billion buyout of Advanced Disposal (NYSE:ADSW). That deal -- like many of WM's buyouts -- will be instantly accreditive to earnings.This should be a boon to its operating income and cash flows. Already, the firm reported record profitability and operating cash flow for 2018. But with the addition of new customers and continued volume strength, Waste should keep the growth going. This should benefit shareholders as well.WM has become a dividend champion and it has consistently increased its dividend for the last 15 years straight -- with a compound annual growth rate of about 6% over the last five years. Currently, shares yield 1.9%. * 7 Marijuana Stocks to Play the CBD Trend All in all, WM has the goods to be one of the best stocks to buy this summer. Consolidated Edison (ED)Source: Shutterstock Utilities are known for their safety and steadfast nature. After all, you have to keep the lights on and heating your home despite what the economy is doing. This makes them a prime stock to buy when the going gets rough. And none could be stodgier than Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED).ConEd has been providing electricity, steam and natural gas for metropolitan New York for more than 180 years. New York is a tough town, but NYC, Westchester, and New Jersey feature strong economic fundamentals and continued growing populations. This has allowed ED to "keep the lights on" for itself as well as reward shareholders.In fact, Con Ed has managed to grow its payout for roughly five decades. The latest was another 3.5% bump at the start of the year.And the dividends could keep coming in. ED has earmarked around $12 billion in CAPEX spending over the next two years. The key is that the vast bulk is going towards its regulated operations. That's a key factor in determining future rate hikes and profits at a utility. With improvements on this side, ED should be able to boost its cash flows further.In the meantime, the safety of being the utility in the biggest city in the U.S. has plenty of advantages for a rocky market. During the last downturn in 2008, ED held up better than the broader market. ED currently yields 3.38%. Aflac (AFL)Source: Shutterstock The duck, its quack and those commercials are pretty iconic. But the parent company is pretty darn iconic as well. Aflac Inc. (NYSE:AFL) makes an ideal stock to buy for this summer.AFL provides so-called voluntary supplemental health and life insurance products. This niche -- and Aflac is the leader -- is generally a high-margined insurance variety. This provides AFL with plenty of underwriting profits. Moreover, AFL has been very smart with its float and has used it to generate plenty of returns. Net investment income jumped 1.1% and 4% in the last quarter for its U.S. and Japanese operations, respectively. The combination of strong underwriting and gains on its float/investment portfolio have allowed AFL to up its guidance for the rest of the year.At the same time, AFL's conservative nature has allowed it to become a dividend machine. The duck has been paying increasing dividends for 36 years. The latest was nearly a 4% increase at the start of the year. With a low payout ratio -- of less than 30% -- there's plenty of wiggle room left for AFL to keep the payout growing socially if profits keep rising. * 10 Small-Cap Stocks That Look Like Bargains Overall, Aflac represents a strong niche insurance agency with conservative fundamentals. It's exactly the kind of stock to buy for a rocky market like this one. iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF (USMV)Source: Shutterstock The best safe stocks to buy this summer might actually be all of them. And that's where the iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF (NYSEARCA:USMV) comes in.USMV tracks a smart-beta index that uses various screens to kick out high-volatility stocks in order to capture the upside of the market while eliminating the downside. With the exchange-traded fund, you're basically buying all the stocks on this list with one ticker. And so far, USMV has delivered on its promise of providing a smoother ride for portfolios.Since its inception in November 2011, USMV has managed to capture roughly 82% of the S&P 500's gains, while only realizing about 56% of its losses. This past December, when the market's imploded, the S&P 500 lost 9%. USMV only lost 7%. This highlights that the stocks to buy are safe ones in this rocky environment.This summer, investors can swap USMV for a core index holding or use it to boost the robustness of an equity portfolio and provide a safety net for the summer. USMV features an expense ratio of just 0.15%, or $15 annually per $10,000 invested.As of this writing, Aaron Levitt did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace * 4 Top American Penny Pot Stocks (Buy Before June 21) * 6 Stocks to Buy for This Decade's Massive Megatrend * The 7 Best Stocks to Buy From the IPO ETF * 7 Athletic Apparel Stocks With Marathon Pace Compare Brokers The post 5 Safe Stocks to Buy This Summer appeared first on InvestorPlace.

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    Whatever you think about utilities, you’re probably wrong. One current narrative about the sector, for example, has it that after years of being more conservative than the broad stock market, utilities suddenly have become riskier. As illustrated by the recent bankruptcy filing of PG&E (PCG) , California’s largest utility, utilities no longer seem to be the boring stocks paying regular dividends that are appropriate only for widows and orphans.

  • ETF Trends3 months ago

    Investors Remain Fond of Low Vol ETFs

    When equities swooned in the fourth quarter, investors turned to low volatility exchange traded funds, such as the iShares MSCI USA Minimum Volatility ETF (Cboe: USMV). Although stocks are rebounding this ...

  • InvestorPlace3 months ago

    The 10 Best ETFs You Can Buy

    Given the sheer expanse of the U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) market, which is home to over 2,300 products, what constitutes the best ETF can vary from investor to investor.For some investors, the best ETFs are the ones with the lowest fees while other investors focus on the products with the juiciest dividend yields. Some investors think the ideal funds are the ones with the best past performance records and other ETF users think the best ETFs come from the issuers with the highest brand recognition.Indeed, a recent survey of professional investors by Brown Brothers Harriman indicates ETF users do prioritize costs and past performance when evaluating funds. Still, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to picking the best ETFs.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips * 9 U.S. Stocks That Are Coming to Life Again Here are some of the best ETFs for a variety of investors. SPDR Portfolio Total Stock Market ETF (SPTM)Expense Ratio: 0.03% per year, or $3 on a $10,000 investment.The SPDR Portfolio Total Stock Market ETF (NYSEARCA:SPTM) is one of the best ETFs for investors looking to accomplish multiple objectives. Home to over 2,600 stocks, SPTM gives investors a deep bench for accessing the U.S. equity market.Second, with an annual fee of just 0.03%, the equivalent of $3 on a $10,000 investment, SPTM is one of the cheapest ETFs in the U.S. Just a handful of funds have annual fees of 0.03% and SPTM is one of them.Bottom line: SPTM is one of the best ETFs for novice or cost-conscious investors. iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF (USMV)Expense Ratio: 0.15%For many investors, the best ETFs are the ones that help reduce portfolio risk and volatility. Enter the iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF (CBOE:USMV), the largest minimum volatility ETF in the U.S.The $22 billion USMV "seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. equities that, in the aggregate, have lower volatility characteristics relative to the broader U.S. equity market," according to iShares. * Buy These 5 Stocks to Play the Megatrend of the Century USMV holds over 200 stocks and nearly 30% of those holdings hail from the technology and financial services sectors. Financial services and consumer staples combine for almost a quarter of USMV's roster. WisdomTree U.S. MidCap Dividend Fund (DON)Expense Ratio: 0.38%There are multiple reasons why the WisdomTree U.S. MidCap Dividend Fund (NYSEARCA:DON) is one of the best ETFs for any investors. First, extensive data and studies confirm that mid-cap stocks frequently outperform their large-cap peers while sporting less volatility than small-caps.Second, specific to DON's status as one of the best ETFs, data confirm this fund's dominance in the mid-cap arena. The $3.51 DON turns 13 years old in June and in its more than 12 years on the market, the WisdomTree products has consistently crushed rival actively managed mid-cap funds as well as passive equivalents."Following another strong year relative to its benchmark, DON is in the top quartile of its Morningstar Mid-Cap Value peer group on all time frames. This includes the latest 5- and 10-year periods in which DON is in the first percentile of all mid-cap value funds," according to WisdomTree. Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP)Expense Ratio: 0.2%The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (NYSEARCA:RSP) has long been one of the best ETFs for investors looking for an alternative to cap-weighted S&P 500 funds. As its name implies, RSP is an equal-weight fund, meaning the S&P 500's smaller components are just as important to this fund's price action as are the index's large- and mega-cap names. * 10 Best Dividend Stocks to Buy for the Next 10 Months Knowing that over long holding periods, small stocks outperform large caps, RSP is one of the best ETFs for investors seeking long-term broad market exposure. Data confirm as much. From RSP's inception in April 2013 through the end of January 2019, RSP beat the cap-weighted S&P 500 by nearly 200 basis points. First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (FDN)Expense Ratio: 0.53%The First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund (NYSEARCA:FDN) is not just one of the best Internet ETFs, it is one of the best ETFs in the sector/industry space as well. Over the past decade, FDN has handily outperformed the S&P 500 and the S&P 1500 Information Technology Composite Index. FDN was also one of the best ETFs in the U.S. during the most recent bull market.The fund is beloved by droves of investors for its efficient access to storied stocks, such as Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX)."FDN's primary rival is the PowerShares NASDAQ Internet Portfolio (NASDAQ:PNQI). PNQI tracks the largest and most liquid U.S.-listed companies engaged in internet-related businesses and employs a modified market cap-weighted indexing methodology based on the market cap ranking of the underling index securities," according to ETF Trends. Vanguard Mega Cap Value ETF (MGV)Expense Ratio: 0.07%The Vanguard Mega Cap Value ETF (NYSEARCA:MGV) is one of the best ETFs for investors seeking basic exposure to domestic mega-cap stocks with a value bias. MGV's value tilt is notable because the value factor has historically rewarded long-term investors, indicating that this Vanguard fund is a solid idea for young investors, too.MGV follows the CRSP Mega Cap Value Index. Over the past three years, MGV has been one of the best ETFs targeting large-cap value names -- outperforming the Russell 1000 Value Index by 600 basis points over that period. * 7 Reasons You Want Boeing Stock in Your Portfolio MGV holds 150 stocks and its earnings multiples indicate the fund trades at a discount relative to broader market benchmarks, such as the S&P 500. Financial services and healthcare names combine for 42.6% of MGV's weight. VanEck Vectors Fallen Angel High Yield Bond ETF (ANGL)Expense Ratio: 0.35%Some of the best ETFs are fixed-income funds and for the adventurous bond investor, the VanEck Vectors Fallen Angel High Yield Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:ANGL) is a name to remember. ANGL is the dominant name among fallen angel funds.Fallen angels are corporate bonds that are originally issued with investment-grade credit ratings that are later downgraded to junk status. To the untrained eye, it may appear that fallen angels are like any other junk bond, but there is more to the story."Fallen angels, high yield bonds originally issued as investment grade corporate bonds, have had historically higher average credit quality than the broad high yield bond universe," according to VanEck. "Fallen angels have outperformed the broad high yield bond market in 11 of the last 15 calendar years."ANGL has a 30-day SEC yield of 6.3%, a 12-month yield of 5.6% and an effective duration of 5.85 years. Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM)Expense Ratio: 0.08%The Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (NYSEARCA:VYM) is one of the largest U.S. dividend ETFs and a popular choice for yield-hungry investors. While VYM is positioned as a high-dividend fund, its dividend yield of 31.6% is not scary and implies some room for payout growth."High-yielding stocks usually pay out an above-average share of their earnings in the form of dividends, leaving a smaller buffer to preserve dividend payments should earnings fall," said Morningstar. "Although the fund targets high-yielding companies, its market-cap-weighting approach helps it to effectively diversify the risk of solely focusing on yield. In fact, its portfolio represents nearly 38% of the holdings in the Russell 3000 Index. And while the fund has meaningful exposure to a few of its largest holdings, they are not among its riskiest positions." * 10 Monster Growth Stocks to Buy for 2019 and Beyond VYM holds nearly 400 stocks, most of which are large- and mega-cap names. Five sectors have double-digit weights in the fund. Pacer Benchmark Data & Infrastructure Real Estate SCTR ETF (SRVR)Expense Ratio: 0.6%One of the best ETFs many investors have yet to hear of, the Pacer Benchmark Data & Infrastructure Real Estate SCTR ETF (CBOE:SRVR), offers a unique, potentially more rewarding approach to real estate investing.Long-term investors are often attracted to real estate funds because of the sector's below-average volatility and above-average volatility. Those are fine traits and SRVR sacrifices neither, but what makes this one of the best ETFs is its compelling opportunity set, one that is not found with traditional real estate ETFs.SRVR has a dividend yield of 3.67%, which is impressive regardless of asset class. Additionally, the fund has shown the ability to outperform traditional real estate ETFs as well as technology funds. Communication needs of the future, including 5G, server farms for cloud computing and more, are among the compelling fundamental factors in SRVR's favor. Cambria Tail Risk ETF (TAIL)Expense Ratio: 0.59%The Cambria Tail Risk ETF (CBOE:TAIL), an actively managed fund, is designed to mitigate risk when markets turn lower and uses put options to accomplish that objective.TAIL strategy offers the potential advantage of buying more puts when volatility is low and fewer puts when volatility is high," according to Cambria. * 9 U.S. Stocks That Are Coming to Life Again Given TAIL's design, it is likely this fund will produce negative returns when stocks are trending higher. So what makes TAIL one of the best ETFs? Put simply, it does its job. Just look at how TAIL performed when broader markets swooned in the fourth quarter of 2018.As of this writing, Todd Shriber did not own any of the aforementioned securities.> More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * The 7 Best Video Game Stocks to Power Up Your Portfolio! * 7 Forever Stocks to Buy for Long-Term Gains * 5 Self-Driving Car Stocks to Buy Compare Brokers The post The 10 Best ETFs You Can Buy appeared first on InvestorPlace.

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