Is WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend ETF (DTD) a Strong ETF Right Now?

The WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend ETF (DTD) was launched on 06/16/2006, 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?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

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.

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.

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

Managed by Wisdomtree, DTD has amassed assets over $1.52 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. Before fees and expenses, DTD 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

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for DTD are 0.28%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.93%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Representing 17.8% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector; Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Jpmorgan Chase & Co (JPM) accounts for about 3.06% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT) and Apple Inc (AAPL).

The top 10 holdings account for about 22.01% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, DTD has added about 3.77%, and it's up approximately 15.85% in the last one year (as of 03/09/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $68.45 and $90.64.

The fund has a beta of 0.80 and standard deviation of 12.07% for the trailing three-year period, which makes DTD a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 808 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

WisdomTree U.S. Total Dividend ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

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 $84.21 billion in assets, Vanguard Value Index Fund ETF Shares has $167.36 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. Total Dividend ETF (DTD): ETF Research Reports

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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