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Is WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth ETF (DGRW) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth ETF (DGRW - Free Report) made its debut on 05/22/2013, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.

Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.

While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Wisdomtree, and has been able to amass over $6.16 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Index before fees and expenses.

The WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Index is a fundamentally weighted index that consists of dividend-paying stocks with growth characteristics.

Cost & Other Expenses

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.28%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.11%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 21.50% of the portfolio. Consumer Staples and Healthcare round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) accounts for about 5.09% of the fund's total assets, followed by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ - Free Report) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) .

DGRW's top 10 holdings account for about 36.22% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -11.07% so far this year and is down about -2.26% in the last one year (as of 07/12/2022). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $55.42 and $66.20.

DGRW has a beta of 0.89 and standard deviation of 21.97% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 299 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

IShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO - Free Report) tracks Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index and the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG - Free Report) tracks NASDAQ US Dividend Achievers Select Index. IShares Core Dividend Growth ETF has $22.14 billion in assets, Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF has $60.33 billion. DGRO has an expense ratio of 0.08% and VIG charges 0.06%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Large Cap Value.

Bottom Line

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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