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

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

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.

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

But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Wisdomtree. DGRW has been able to amass assets over $7.58 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. DGRW, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Index.

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

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for DGRW are 0.28%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 2.04%.

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.

For DGRW, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 21% of the portfolio --while Consumer Staples and Healthcare round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) accounts for about 5.25% 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 34.19% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, DGRW has lost about -3.58%, and was up about 0.23% in the last one year (as of 11/24/2022). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $53.91 and $66.20.

DGRW has a beta of 0.89 and standard deviation of 22.50% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 297 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

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 $24.76 billion in assets, Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF has $66.36 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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