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Is ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL - Free Report) was launched on 10/09/2013, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as 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.

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 Proshares, and has been able to amass over $12.45 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. NOBL seeks to match the performance of the S&P 500 DividendAristocrats Index before fees and expenses.

The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index targets companies that are currently members of the S&P 500, have increased dividend payments each year for at least 25 years & meet certain market capitalization & liquidity requirements.

Cost & Other Expenses

For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.35%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.02%.

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.

NOBL's heaviest allocation is in the Consumer Staples sector, which is about 23.90% of the portfolio. Its Industrials and Materials round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Stanley Black & Decker Inc (SWK - Free Report) accounts for about 1.77% of the fund's total assets, followed by Clorox Company (CLX - Free Report) and Kenvue Inc (KVUE - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 15.26% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 11.57% so far this year and it's up approximately 25.40% in the last one year (as of 10/28/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $84.90 and $107.96.

The fund has a beta of 0.90 and standard deviation of 14.74% for the trailing three-year period, which makes NOBL a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 67 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats 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 - Free Report) tracks Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index and the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG - Free Report) tracks NASDAQ US Dividend Achievers Select Index. IShares Core Dividend Growth ETF has $30.10 billion in assets, Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF has $85.65 billion. DGRO has an expense ratio of 0.08% and VIG charges 0.06%.

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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