RPV: Strong YTD Returns But Persistently Weak Quality Looms

The Sunday Investor 7.41K Followers Follow Summary Invesco S&P 500 Pure Value ETF offers a compelling 11.41x forward P/E and an improved 8.54% next-year EPS growth rate, both of which have supported a 20.38% YTD gain. Further gains to close the year are likely, and RPV's overweighting of Energy and Materials is appropriate, given my expectation of heightened commodity prices due to the Iran War. Still, quality issues persist. RPV's margins and capital efficiency ratios are well below those of broad-based value funds like SPYV as well as RPG, Invesco's S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF. Investors will also have to contend with the upcoming December rebalance, which will likely result in the exit of some of its top-performing stocks. Overall, RPV's strong value and decent growth combination offset its quality weakness, so I've rated it a neutral "hold." However, RPV remains too risky, and I don't recommend owning it for the long term. gustavofrazao/iStock via Getty Images Investment Thesis It's been almost four years since I last covered the Invesco S&P 500 Pure Value ETF ( RPV ), when I downgraded it to a "hold" based on "low profitability, questionable earnings growth, and negative earnings trends." As shown below, RPV This article was written by The Sunday Investor 7.41K 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 no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. 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 any 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.