iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF
$214.44+0.45 (+0.21%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.37%
- Fund size
- $12.7B
- 1Y return
- +5.0%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 0.26%
- Holdings
- 50
- Volume · 30D
- 0.7M sh
- NAV per share
- $216.18
- 52W range
The ETF.net ITA Grade
Score 73 of 100 sits in the A band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.
Cost
What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.AScore 80Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 77Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.BScore 62Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.AScore 93Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.DScore 33Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 98Category rank
Our read on ITA
AThe 2006 original in aerospace and defense, and still the anchor fund of the category. It follows a market-cap-weighted index of U.S. aircraft, parts and weapons makers, so the big primes carry most of the weight.
The fund is designed to follow an index of U.S. equity companies focused on aerospace and defense.
Why people hold it
- Charges 0.37% a year, below the typical defense-fund fee and a whisker off the cheapest large rival, XAR at 0.35%.
- Trading since 2006 and now a multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund: the long-standing incumbent in U.S. aerospace and defense.
- The index weights by market cap but caps any single company's weight, so the biggest primes lead without swallowing the whole portfolio.spglobal.com
- One of the strongest builds in a crowded defense peer group, with a plain-vanilla index mandate and quarterly payouts.
Worth knowing
- About 50 stocks, cap-weighted: a few primes drive most of the ride. XAR's modified equal weight spreads exposure further down the size ladder.ssga.com
- One U.S. industry, running on two engines: government procurement and commercial aircraft demand. Narrower than a broad-market fund by design.ishares.com
- Holds a representative sample of the index rather than every constituent, which can leave small gaps versus the benchmark.sec.gov
ITA Holdings
- Stocks
- 50
- 75%
- GE
Sectors
- Industrials98.4%
- Materials1.6%
Geography
- United States99.93%
- Puerto Rico0.07%
ITA Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
ITA$10,502
Returns run to the Sep 22, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | ITA |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −0.1% |
| 1 month | −9.7% |
| 3 months | −9.0% |
| 1 year | +5.0% |
| 3 years | +27.3% |
| 5 years | +16.6% |
| 10 years | +13.8% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | ITA |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −0.1% | |
| 2025 | +48.6% | |
| 2024 | +15.8% | |
| 2023 | +14.3% | |
| 2022 | +10.0% | |
| 2021 | +9.4% | |
| 2020 | −13.6% |
ITA in the news
ITA Dividends
- 0.26%
- $0.57
- $0.25 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2026 | Sep 18, 2026 | $0.25 |
| Jun 15, 2026 | Jun 18, 2026 | $0.16 |
| Mar 17, 2026 | Mar 20, 2026 | $0.15 |
| Sep 16, 2025 | Sep 19, 2025 | $0.75 |
| Jun 16, 2025 | Jun 20, 2025 | $0.17 |
| Mar 18, 2025 | Mar 21, 2025 | $0.25 |
| Dec 17, 2024 | Dec 20, 2024 | $0.44 |
| Sep 25, 2024 | Sep 30, 2024 | $0.23 |
| Jun 11, 2024 | Jun 17, 2024 | $0.30 |
| Mar 21, 2024 | Mar 27, 2024 | $0.27 |
| Dec 20, 2023 | Dec 27, 2023 | $0.43 |
| Sep 26, 2023 | Oct 2, 2023 | $0.22 |
ITA Risk
- 18.4%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 1.12
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −18.7%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.98
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
ITA Cost
0.37%
ITA0.37%
- The middle half of Defense & Aerospace funds
- Median 0.50%
4 of the 25 Defense & Aerospace funds charge less.