Understanding the United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund (UNL)

What this ETF is trying to do

The United States 12 Month Natural Gas Fund (ticker: UNL) is an ETF traded on the NYSE. Based on its name, this fund is designed to track natural gas.

What the numbers show

The current price of UNL is $5.80. To understand how the price has moved, we can look at its "price return," which measures only the change in the share price.

• Year-to-Date (YTD): The price return is approximately -21.38%.

• One Year: The one-year price return is approximately -25.99%.

• Three Years: The three-year price return is approximately -50.37%.

• Five Years: The five-year total return is approximately -59.43%.

For a visual example, the estimated price from roughly one year ago was $7.84. Since then, the share price has declined. Because total return data was supplied and matches the price return in this case, it shows that the overall value has decreased alongside the share price.

Income and distribution explanation

Some investors look for ETFs that pay them cash regularly, which is called a "distribution yield." For UNL, the distribution yield is 0%. No distributions were detected over the last 12 months.

NAV erosion explanation

"NAV erosion" is a term used to describe when the value of an ETF's underlying assets decreases significantly over time. StockValueFinder uses an "erosion-risk score" to measure this risk.

UNL has an erosion score of 30, which is labeled as "Significant price erosion." Because of the split-adjusted price trends and this score, the fund has triggered a severe erosion-risk flag. This is a warning that the share price has seen substantial deterioration.

Pros

• The fund provides direct exposure to natural gas prices through a single ticker on the NYSE.

Cons

• The fund has experienced significant share-price declines over one, three, and five years.

• There is a severe erosion-risk flag present.

• The fund does not currently provide cash distributions or income.

Beginner takeaway

When looking at an ETF like UNL, it is important to look at more than just the current price. Investors should check the history of price returns and look for erosion-risk warnings. In this case, the fund has shown a pattern of declining share prices and carries a severe erosion-risk flag.