ETFdb Realtime Rating & Analyst Report for LQD
LQD is a passive ETF that seeks to replicate the iBoxx $ Liquid Investment Grade Index. The index measures the performance of 600 highly liquid investment grade corporate bonds.
| ETFdb Category | Expense Ratio | Inception Date | Issuer | Structure | YTD Return * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Bonds | 0.15% | 2002-07-22 | iShares | ETF | +1.95% |
* As of 05-24-2012
LQD Realtime Rating: By Metric
| Metric | Metric Realtime Rating | A+ Metric Rated ETF |
|---|---|---|
| Liquidity | A+ | LQD |
| Expenses | A- | SCPB |
| Performance | A | VCLT |
| Volatility | B | VCSH |
| Dividend | A | PICB |
| Concentration | A | CFT |
The first adjacent table gives investors an individual Realtime Rating for LQD on several different metrics, including liquidity, expenses, performance, volatility, dividend, and concentration of holdings. The "A+ Metric Rated ETF" field, available to ETFdb Pro members, shows the ETF in the Corporate Bonds ETFdb Category with the highest Metric Realtime Rating for each individual field.
LQD Realtime Rating: Overall
| ETFdb Rating Type | Overall Rating | A+ Overall Rated ETF |
|---|---|---|
| Realtime Rating (Overall) | A+ | LQD |
The second table shows the overall Realtime Rating for LQD, as well as the A+ Overall Rated ETF in LQD's Category. To view information on how the ETFdb Realtime Ratings work, click here.
ETFdb Analyst Report for LQD
Asset Allocation
This ETF is the most popular option for investors looking to gain exposure to investment grade corporate bonds, making it a useful tool for those looking to access a corner of the bond market that should be a core component of any long-term, buy-and-hold portfolio. LQD is probably of limited use for short term traders, who will prefer to utilize more extreme ends of the risk spectrum to capitalize off of short term movements in asset prices and risk tolerance. This ETF should, however, be very useful to those building a long-term portfolio; exposure to corporate bonds can deliver attractive yields without excessive risks. LQD can specifically be helpful for those with holdings in AGG or BND, beefing up the relatively minor allocations those aggregate products make to corporate debt (those ETFs are dominated by government bonds). While LQD is spread out across the maturity spectrum, investors do have options for more granular exposure to long term (VCLT) or short term (SCPB, VCSH) corporate debt. LQD is extremely cost efficient, and offers an impressively deep underlying portfolio of fixed income securities. But there are some interesting alternatives out there that may make more sense for certain investors. CBND, for example, offers similar exposure but uses a unique weighting methodology that may be more appealing. Whereas LQD gives the largest weightings to the biggest issues of debt, CBND uses fundamental factors such as return on assets and interest coverage ratio to determine the weightings assigned.
LQD In-Depth
The following tables and charts contain in-depth metrics for LQD and compare it to similar peer ETFs within its ETFdb Category.
Expense Analysis
This section compares the cost efficiency of LQD to peers in the same ETFdb Category.
| LQD | ETF Average | ETF Wtd. Avgerage |
|---|---|---|
| 0.15% | 0.59% | 0.32% |
Comparative Analysis: Corporate Bonds ETFdb Category
| Lo | Average | Hi | LQD Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| SCPB: 0.12% | 0.23% | IBND: 0.55% | 7 of 32 |
Commission Free Trading in LQD
LQD is currently available for commission free trading on the following platforms: TD Ameritrade, Fidelity. There are 5 other ETFs in the Corporate Bonds ETFdb Category that are also eligible for commission free trading: CIU (TD Ameritrade), CSJ (TD Ameritrade), VCIT (TD Ameritrade, Vanguard), VCLT (TD Ameritrade, Vanguard), VCSH (TD Ameritrade, Vanguard).
Performance Analysis
This section shows how LQD has performed relative to its peer group ETFdb Category.
| LQD | Category Lo | Category Hi | LQD Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Week* | -0.28% | VCLT: -1.48% | QLTA: 0.08% | 12 of 32 |
| 4 Week* | -0.35% | PICB: -4.40% | AMPS: 1.00% | 20 of 32 |
| 13 Week* | -0.62% | IBND: -3.27% | MONY: 1.95% | 27 of 29 |
| 26 Week* | 5.37% | BSCB: -0.43% | BSCH: 5.69% | 2 of 25 |
| YTD* | 1.95% | CLY: -0.45% | CORP: 3.83% | 11 of 25 |
| 1 Year* | 7.73% | FLTR: -3.98% | VCLT: 13.14% | 4 of 23 |
| 3 Year* | 36.33% | CSJ: 8.68% | LWC: 50.06% | 2 of 6 |
| 5 Year* | 39.20% | CSJ: 17.57% | LQD: 39.20% | 1 of 4 |
* As of 05-24-2012
Volatility Analysis
This section shows how the volatility of LQD compares to the peer group ETFdb Category.
| LQD | Category Lo | Category Hi | LQD Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volatility: 5 Day* | 22.32% | VCIT: 0.61% | PICB: 32.90% | 2 of 32 |
| Volatility: 20 Day* | 4.06% | CSJ: 0.85% | PICB: 7.43% | 12 of 32 |
| Volatility: 50 Day* | 4.58% | VCSH: 1.18% | VCLT: 8.21% | 11 of 28 |
| Volatility: 200 Day* | 4.78% | VCSH: 1.49% | LWC: 9.31% | 9 of 25 |
| Beta* | -0.29 | LWC: -0.56 | PICB: 0.50 | 22 of 30 |
| Standard Deviation* | 3.02% | BSCB: 0.04% | VCLT: 3.65% | 2 of 21 |
* As of 05-24-2012
Technical Analysis
This section highlights technical strength metrics for LQD.
| Moving Averages * | Support & Resistance * | Williams & Rel. Strength * | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Day MA | $116.23 | Lower Bolinger (10Day) | $114.85 | Williams % (10) | 81.12 |
| 60 Day MA | $115.61 | Upper Bolinger (10Day) | $117.33 | Williams % (20) | 81.12 |
| MACD 15 Day | -0.67 | Lower Bolinger (30Day) | $115.12 | Rel. Strength (10) | 41 |
| MACD 100 Day | 0.16 | Upper Bolinger (30Day) | $117.04 | Rel. Strength (20) | 47 |
| Support Level | n/a | Rel. Strength (30) | 50 | ||
| Resistance Level | n/a | ||||
* As of 05-24-2012
Dividend & Valuation Analysis
This section shows how the dividend yield and P/E multiple of LQD compare to the peer group ETFdb Category.
| LQD | Category Lo | Category Hi | LQD Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Dividend Yield* | 3.19% | BSCI: 0.14% | PICB: 3.86% | 5 of 32 |
| P/E Ratio* | n/a | CIU: n/a | CBND: n/a | 11 of 20 |
* As of 05-24-2012
Concentration Analysis
This section compares how balanced and deep LQD is relative to the peer group ETFdb Category.
| LQD | Category Lo | Category Hi | LQD Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number Of Holdings** | 850 | CORP: n/a | CFT: 1842 | 27 of 32 |
| % Assets In Top 10** | 5.21% | CORP: n/a | FLTR: 76.42% | 8 of 32 |
**As of 2012-05-03
ETF X-Ray**
This section provides a look under the hood of LQD.
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | |
**As of 2012-05-03
Alternative ETFs
Other ETFs in the Corporate Bonds ETFdb Category include:
| Type | Ticker | Expense Ratio | Assets | Avg. Daily Vol | YTD Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest | SCPB | 0.12% | $1,054.8 M | 201,169 | 1.15% |
| Largest (AUM) | CSJ | 0.20% | $9,524.9 M | 501,905 | 0.44% |
| Most Liquid (Volume) | CSJ | 0.20% | $9,524.9 M | 501,905 | 0.44% |
| Top YTD Performer | CORP | 0.20% | $253.9 M | 13,384 | 3.83% |
© 2012 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
