The iShares US Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:IHE) underperformed all other non-leveraged, non-inverse exchange traded products in the U.S. today on a percentage basis, producing a -0.98% one-day return and trailing the wider markets by a total of 1.35 percentage points.
Behind The Gains
IHE closed today at $140.38 per share, down $1.39 (-0.98%). Putting this move in context, the S&P 500 index — largely considered the most popular and useful benchmark for equity performance — closed up $0.83 (+0.37%) on the day.
IHE’s trading volume today was a total of 37,380 shares, which was a decrease of 52% versus its average daily trading volume of 78,598. Rising trading volume generally an indicator of increased demand for a particular security, and is typically associated with a specific news event or trend that draws investors into or out of specific asset classes, or sectors or subsectors within those classes. IHE’s volume today, along with the rest of the markets, was subpar.
Including any dividends as well as today’s losses, IHE has now fallen a total of -0.74% year-to-date, versus a 1.44% gain in the S&P 500 during the same timeframe.
A Look Under The Hood
iShares Dow Jones US Pharmaceuticals Index Fund is a Equity-focused product issued by BlackRock. Its expense ratio of 0.44% makes it the #16 cheapest ETF among 35 total funds in the Health & Biotech ETFs category.
IHE currently boasts $685.11M in assets under management (AUM), placing it #11 of 35 ETFs in its category, and #375 of 1920 total ETFs in the U.S. exchange traded universe.
The investment objective of the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Pharmaceutical Index Fund ETF seeks to track the investment results of an index composed of U.S. equities in the pharmaceuticals sector. With biotechs and pharma companies under fire from regulators, it’s not a surprise this fund has seen a few rough days lately.
IHE SMART Grade
IHE currently has an ETF Daily News SMART Grade of B (Buy), and is ranked #17 of 36 funds in the Health & Biotech ETFs category.