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Is iShares Select Dividend ETF (DVY) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Making its debut on 11/03/2003, smart beta exchange traded fund iShares Select Dividend ETF (DVY - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

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

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

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.

The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Blackrock, and has been able to amass over $19.65 billion, which makes it one of the largest ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index.

The Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index measures the performance of a selected group of equity securities issued by companies that have provided relatively high dividend yields on a consistent basis over time.

Cost & Other Expenses

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for DVY are 0.38%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 3.89%.

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.

DVY's heaviest allocation is in the Utilities sector, which is about 25.6% of the portfolio. Its Financials and Consumer Staples round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Altria Group Inc (MO) accounts for about 2.55% of the fund's total assets, followed by Ford Motor Co (F) and Verizon Communications Inc (VZ).

DVY's top 10 holdings account for about 18.74% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 2.44% so far this year and was up about 12.31% in the last one year (as of 06/25/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $118.37 and $143.41

DVY has a beta of 0.76 and standard deviation of 15.71% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 107 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

iShares Select 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.

Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index and the Vanguard Value ETF (VTV) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Value Index. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF has $70.18 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $137.12 billion. SCHD has an expense ratio of 0.06% and VTV changes 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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