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Is WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend ETF (DTD) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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The WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend ETF (DTD - 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?
The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
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.
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.
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, DTD has amassed assets over $1.37 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree U.S. Dividend Index.
The WisdomTree U.S. Dividend Index is a fundamentally-weighted index that defines the dividend-paying portion of the U.S. equity market.
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 0.28%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.01%.
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.
For DTD, it has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector --about 20% of the portfolio --while Information Technology and Consumer Staples round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Jpmorgan Chase & Co (JPM - Free Report) accounts for about 3.28% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) and Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) .
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 22.95% of DTD's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, DTD has added about 3.54%, and was up about 18.06% in the last one year (as of 02/28/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $67.07 and $80.53.
The fund has a beta of 0.91 and standard deviation of 13.89% for the trailing three-year period, which makes DTD a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 840 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
WisdomTree U.S. Total 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 $69.29 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $134.67 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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Is WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend ETF (DTD) a Strong ETF Right Now?
The WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend ETF (DTD - 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?
The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
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.
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.
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, DTD has amassed assets over $1.37 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree U.S. Dividend Index.
The WisdomTree U.S. Dividend Index is a fundamentally-weighted index that defines the dividend-paying portion of the U.S. equity market.
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 0.28%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.01%.
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.
For DTD, it has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector --about 20% of the portfolio --while Information Technology and Consumer Staples round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Jpmorgan Chase & Co (JPM - Free Report) accounts for about 3.28% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) and Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) .
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 22.95% of DTD's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, DTD has added about 3.54%, and was up about 18.06% in the last one year (as of 02/28/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $67.07 and $80.53.
The fund has a beta of 0.91 and standard deviation of 13.89% for the trailing three-year period, which makes DTD a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 840 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
WisdomTree U.S. Total 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 $69.29 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $134.67 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.