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Is WisdomTree U.S. High Dividend ETF (DHS) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The WisdomTree U.S. High Dividend ETF (DHS - Free Report) made its debut on 06/16/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value category of the market.

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.

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.

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. DHS has been able to amass assets over $1.05 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree U.S. High Dividend Index.

The WisdomTree U.S. High Dividend Index is a fundamentally weighted index that measures the performance of companies with high dividend yields selected from the WisdomTree Dividend Index.

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.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.38%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

DHS's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 2.93%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Healthcare sector - about 18.90% of the portfolio. Consumer Staples and Energy round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM - Free Report) accounts for about 6.53% of the fund's total assets, followed by Chevron Corp (CVX - Free Report) and Philip Morris International Inc (PM - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 44.71% of DHS's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 5.23% so far this year and is up about 14.74% in the last one year (as of 04/28/2022). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $76.78 and $91.19.

DHS has a beta of 0.85 and standard deviation of 21.91% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 315 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

WisdomTree U.S. High 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.

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 $54.50 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $99.29 billion. IWD has an expense ratio of 0.19% 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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