FIW: Water Stocks Still Expensive Despite Weak Returns

First Trust Water ETF is downgraded to 'sell' due to persistent weak fundamentals and lackluster performance. FIW's static, market-cap-weighted portfolio results in low turnover but limited improvement in quality, growth, and value metrics since my last review in February. Key portfolio metrics—high P/E ratios, weak EBIT margins, and low ROIC—continue to undermine FIW's risk-adjusted returns. Despite diversification benefits, neither FIW nor its peer PHO offer compelling fundamentals to justify a position this year. Bilanol/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis I last reviewed the First Trust Water ETF ( FIW ) on February 11, 2026, when I judged that its relatively weak fundamentals did not justify an investment even after considering its obvious diversification benefits This article was written by The Sunday Investor 7.36K Followers Follow The Sunday Investor is focused exclusively on U.S. Equity ETFs. He has a strong analytical background, has received a Certificate of Advanced Investment Advice from the Canadian Securities Institute, and has completed all the educational requirements for the Chartered Investment Manager designation.Having covered hundreds of ETFs on Seeking Alpha, The Sunday Investor has developed a complex, proprietary ETF Rankings system which he shares on his website, etf-rankings.com. Nearly 1,000 ETFs receive individual factor scores covering costs, liquidity, risk, size, value, dividends, growth, quality, momentum, and sentiment, which feed into an easy-to-understand composite score from 1-10. The Sunday Investor is always active in the comments section in his articles - please don't hesitate to reach out via comment in any article or by visiting etf-rankings.com. Happy Investing! Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of SPY either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether an investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.