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Is WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend ETF (DTD) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Making its debut on 06/16/2006, smart beta exchange traded fund WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend ETF (DTD - Free Report) provides investors 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.

Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.

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.

This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of 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. DTD has been able to amass assets over $1.14 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree U.S. Dividend Index before fees and expenses.

The WisdomTree U.S. Dividend Index is a fundamentally-weighted index that defines the dividend-paying portion of the U.S. equity market.

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.

With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.28%.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.52%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

For DTD, it has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector --about 15.90% of the portfolio --while Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM - Free Report) accounts for about 3.25% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 21.46% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added about 3.23% so far this year and was up about 3.06% in the last one year (as of 01/27/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $54.26 and $65.68.

The ETF has a beta of 0.92 and standard deviation of 23.58% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 829 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend 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 Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD - Free Report) tracks Russell 1000 Value Index and the Vanguard Value ETF (VTV - Free Report) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Value Index. IShares Russell 1000 Value ETF has $54.29 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $101.88 billion. IWD has an expense ratio of 0.18% and VTV charges 0.04%.

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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