Looking For Diversification? 2 Small- And Mid-Cap ETFs With Solid Fundamentals

The recent broad market slump has been particularly harsh on small- and mid-capitalization (cap) stocks. But as Wall Street attempts a rebound after the Fed's 25bp interest rate hike, investors may start looking at these companies' beaten-down valuations for buying opportunities.

With a market cap under $2 billion, small-cap companies typically offer more significant upside potential than mid-cap companies with market caps between $2 billion and $10 billion. Meanwhile, mid-cap stocks are generally less volatile than small caps.

Many investors look at small- and mid-cap companies to find rising stars that can give massive returns to their shareholders. In addition, many small- and mid-cap names become takeovers targets, leading to share price gains.

Today's article introduces two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that could appeal to those wishing to diversify their portfolios by looking beyond the large-cap space. Understandably, a firm's capitalization is ever-shifting as share prices move constantly. Therefore, a small-cap ETF could easily hold mid-cap stocks as well.

1. First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund

• Current price: $66.25
• 52-week range: $59.92 - $79.92
• Expense ratio: 0.70 per year

First on today's list is the First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX® Fund (NASDAQ:FNY), which invests in mid-cap growth stocks selected from the NASDAQ US 600 Mid Cap Growth Index. The growth factors used in this selection are sales growth, price appreciation, and sales-to-price ratios.

FNY Weekly Chart

FNY tracks the NASDAQ AlphaDEX Mid Cap Growth Index, rebalanced quarterly. The fund was first listed in April 2011 and currently comprises 223 stocks.

Over 10% of net assets of $312.1 million are in the top 10 companies. Health care names have the highest slice with 15.98%. Next come IT (14.50%), industrial (13.93%), consumer discretionary (13.60%) and financials (12.48%) among others.

Leading holdings include the energy names Antero Resources (NYSE:AR), APA (NASDAQ:APA), Ovintiv (NYSE:OVV); midstream infrastructure group Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP); aluminum producer Alcoa (NYSE:AA); and chemical and ingredients distributor Univar Solutions (NYSE:UNVR).

FNY hit a record high in November 2021. However, it is down 10.7% year-to-date and 5% in the past 12 months.

Trailing P/E and P/B ratios are 18.21x and 4.09x respectively. We believe the recent decline in many of the holdings in the fund means a better risk/return profile for long-term investors.

2. Janus Henderson Small/Mid Cap Growth Alpha ETF

• Current price: $60.97
• 52-week range: $55.27 – $70.78
• Dividend yield: 0.32%
• Expense ratio: 0.30% per year

Today's second fund is the Janus Henderson Small/Mid Cap Growth Alpha ETF (NASDAQ:JSMD). It invests in small- and mid-cap businesses with solid fundamentals and revenue growth and profitability potential. The fund started trading in February 2016.

JSMD Weekly Chart

JSMD, which has 265 holdings, tracks the Janus Henderson Small/Mid Cap Growth Alpha Index. The top 10 stocks comprise close to a fifth of net assets of over $161 million.

In terms of sectoral allocation, we see information technology (32.08%), health care (22.52%), industrials (13.37%), and consumer discretionary (11.54%)

Virtualization technology name VMware (NYSE:VMW); molecular diagnostics company Qiagen (NYSE:QGEN); Ubiquiti Networks (NYSE:UI), which manufactures wireless data communication products; Chemed (NYSE:CHE), which operates different lines of profitable businesses; and agriscience firm FMC (NYSE:FMC) lead the names on the roster.

JSMD also saw an all-time high in November 2021. However, the fund is down about 10.5% in the past 12 months, and almost all that decline came in 2022.

Forward P/E and P/B ratios are 19.95x and 6.04x, respectively. Buy-and-hold investors could consider hitting the 'buy' button around these levels.