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

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A smart beta exchange traded fund, the WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend ETF (DTD - Free Report) debuted on 06/16/2006, 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.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

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.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Wisdomtree, and has been able to amass over $1.17 billion, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. Before fees and expenses, DTD seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree U.S. Dividend Index.

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

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.

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

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 2.30%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Most ETFs are very transparent products, and disclose their holdings on a daily basis. ETFs also offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, though it's still important for investors to research a fund's holdings.

DTD's heaviest allocation is in the Financials sector, which is about 18.50% of the portfolio. Its Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) accounts for about 3.22% of total assets, followed by Jpmorgan Chase & Co (JPM - Free Report) and Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 23.37% of DTD's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 3.76% so far this year and is up about 12.62% in the last one year (as of 04/16/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $57.51 and $70.72.

DTD has a beta of 0.91 and standard deviation of 14.17% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 826 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend 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.

Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD - Free Report) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index and the Vanguard Value ETF (VTV - Free Report) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Value Index. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF has $53.58 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $110.86 billion. SCHD has an expense ratio of 0.06% 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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