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Should WisdomTree U.S. High Dividend ETF (DHS) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Large Cap Value segment of the US equity market, the WisdomTree U.S. High Dividend ETF (DHS - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 06/16/2006.

The fund is sponsored by Wisdomtree. It has amassed assets over $1.29 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Value segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Value

Large cap companies usually have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Overall, they are usually a stable option, with less risk and more sure-fire cash flows than mid and small cap companies.

Value stocks have lower than average price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios. They also have lower than average sales and earnings growth rates. Considering long-term performance, value stocks have outperformed growth stocks in almost all markets; however, they are more likely to underperform growth stocks in strong bull markets.

Costs

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.38%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.36%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Energy sector--about 22.60% of the portfolio. Healthcare and Consumer Staples round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM - Free Report) accounts for about 7.97% of total assets, followed by Chevron Corp (CVX - Free Report) and Coca-Cola Co/the (KO - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 42.79% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

DHS seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree U.S. High Dividend Index before fees and expenses. The WisdomTree U.S. High Dividend Index is a fundamentally weighted index that measures the performance of companies with high dividend yields selected from the WisdomTree Dividend Index.

The ETF has gained about 3.90% so far this year and is up roughly 9.39% in the last one year (as of 11/03/2022). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $75.81 and $91.19.

The ETF has a beta of 0.82 and standard deviation of 22.96% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 311 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

WisdomTree U.S. High Dividend ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, DHS is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD - Free Report) and the Vanguard Value ETF (VTV - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF has $52.34 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $99.57 billion. IWD has an expense ratio of 0.18% and VTV charges 0.04%.

Bottom-Line

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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