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Is WisdomTree U.S. LargeCap ETF (EPS) 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. LargeCap ETF (EPS - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 02/23/2007.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.

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

There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.

Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.

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

Managed by Wisdomtree, EPS has amassed assets over $1.09 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree U.S. Earnings 500 Index before fees and expenses.

The WisdomTree U.S. LargeCap Index is a fundamentally weighted index that measures the performance of earnings-generating companies within the large-capitalization segment of the U.S. Stock Market.

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.

With one of the least expensive products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.08%.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.41%.

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 Information Technology sector - about 25.80% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Google Inc (GOOGL - Free Report) accounts for about 6.23% of the fund's total assets, followed by Amazon.com Inc (AMZN - Free Report) and Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 38.65% of EPS's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 4.20% and was up about 26.79% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 01/24/2025), respectively. EPS has traded between $51 and $63.93 during this last 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 0.99 and standard deviation of 16.43% for the trailing three-year period, which makes EPS a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 502 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

WisdomTree U.S. LargeCap 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 $68.03 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $134.28 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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