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

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value category of the market, the WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth ETF (DGRW - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 05/22/2013.

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.

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.

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.

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 Wisdomtree. DGRW has been able to amass assets over $16.58 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Index before fees and expenses.

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

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.28%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

DGRW's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 1.41%.

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.

Looking at individual holdings, Us Dollar accounts for about 61.79% of total assets, followed by Dreyfus Trsy Oblig Cash Mgmt Cl Ins and Microsoft Corp (MSFT).

DGRW's top 10 holdings account for about 133.22% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 10.56% and is up about 9.71% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 09/17/2025), respectively. DGRW has traded between $71.28 and $88.91 during this last 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 0.85 and standard deviation of 13.80% for the trailing three-year period, which makes DGRW a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 303 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) tracks Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index and the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG) tracks NASDAQ US Dividend Achievers Select Index. iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF has $34.01 billion in assets, Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF has $97.74 billion. DGRO has an expense ratio of 0.08% and VIG changes 0.05%.

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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