The WisdomTree U.S. High Dividend ETF (DHS) 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 long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
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.
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.
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.
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
The fund is managed by Wisdomtree, and has been able to amass over $1.43 billion, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. Before fees and expenses, DHS 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
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
Annual operating expenses for DHS are 0.38%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
DHS's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 3.14%.
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.
Representing 18.1% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector; Consumer Staples and Healthcare round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM) accounts for about 5.61% of total assets, followed by Altria Group Inc (MO) and Philip Morris International Inc (PM).
The top 10 holdings account for about 38.88% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the WisdomTree U.S. High Dividend ETF has added about 7.93% so far, and it's up approximately 14.26% over the last 12 months (as of 03/10/2026). DHS has traded between $87.71 $113.43 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.64 and standard deviation of 12.98% for the trailing three-year period, which makes DHS a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 324 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.
Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index and the Vanguard Value Index Fund ETF Shares (VTV) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Value Index. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF has $84.08 billion in assets, Vanguard Value Index Fund ETF Shares has $167.82 billion. SCHD has an expense ratio of 0.06% and VTV changes 0.03%.
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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WisdomTree U.S. High Dividend ETF (DHS): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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