Should You Invest in the iShares U.S. Transportation ETF (IYT)?

FlynnSci/Tech2025-07-085640

The iShares U.S. Transportation ETF (IYT) was launched on 10/06/2003, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Industrials - Transportation/Shipping segment of the equity market.

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors.

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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. Industrials - Transportation/Shipping is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 4, placing it in top 25%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $713.57 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Transportation/Shipping segment of the equity market. IYT seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones Transportation Average Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P Transportation Select Industry FMC Capped Index (USD) measures the performance of companies from the Industrial Transportation, Airline and General Industrial Services industries of the U.S. equity market.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.39%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.07%.

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 in the Industrials sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Uber Technologies Inc (UBER) accounts for about 22.28% of total assets, followed by Union Pacific Corp (UNP) and United Parcel Service Inc Class B (UPS).

The top 10 holdings account for about 75.77% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 5.13% so far this year and it's up approximately 9.77% in the last one year (as of 07/07/2025). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $55.22 and $75.40.

The ETF has a beta of 1.24 and standard deviation of 22.28% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 49 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

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Alternatives

IShares U.S. Transportation ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, IYT is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Industrials ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

SPDR S&P Transportation ETF (XTN) tracks S&P Transportation Select Industry Index and the U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS) tracks U.S. Global Jets Index. SPDR S&P Transportation ETF has $179.75 million in assets, U.S. Global Jets ETF has $861.08 million. XTN has an expense ratio of 0.35% and JETS charges 0.60%.

Bottom Line

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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