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

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The iShares Select Dividend ETF (DVY - Free Report) was launched on 11/03/2003, 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?

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.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.

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.

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

Because the fund has amassed over $20.11 billion, this makes it one of the largest ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. DVY is managed by Blackrock. 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

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.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.38% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.53%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, 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 29.40% of the portfolio. Its Financials and Consumer Staples round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Altria Group Inc (MO - Free Report) accounts for about 3.19% of the fund's total assets, followed by At&t Inc (T - Free Report) and International Paper (IP - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 20.3% of DVY's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, DVY has added roughly 3.37%, and was up about 23.37% in the last one year (as of 02/17/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $115.20 and $143.41.

The ETF has a beta of 0.88 and standard deviation of 15.48% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 104 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

IShares Select 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.

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 $67.88 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $135.81 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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