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Is ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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A smart beta exchange traded fund, the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL - Free Report) debuted on 10/09/2013, and offers 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 offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.

There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.

Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Proshares, and has been able to amass over $11.48 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. Before fees and expenses, NOBL seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 DividendAristocrats Index.

The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index targets companies that are currently members of the S&P 500, have increased dividend payments each year for at least 25 years & meet certain market capitalization & liquidity requirements.

Cost & Other Expenses

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 cousins, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.35%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.88%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Representing 21.50% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Consumer Staples sector; Industrials and Materials round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Albemarle Corp (ALB - Free Report) accounts for about 1.90% of the fund's total assets, followed by Ww Grainger Inc (GWW - Free Report) and Archer-Daniels-Midland Co (ADM - Free Report) .

NOBL's top 10 holdings account for about 17.43% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, NOBL has lost about -1.79%, and is up roughly 5.40% in the last one year (as of 12/02/2022). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $79.96 and $98.70.

The ETF has a beta of 0.90 and standard deviation of 23.73% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 65 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats 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 $25.09 billion in assets, Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF has $67.19 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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