Is WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF (DTH) a Strong ETF Right Now?
The WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF (DTH) made its debut on 06/16/2006, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Broad Developed World ETFs 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.
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.
But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.
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
The fund is managed by Wisdomtree. DTH has been able to amass assets over $425.15 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Broad Developed World ETFs. DTH seeks to match the performance of the WisdomTree International High Dividend Index before fees and expenses.
The WisdomTree International High Dividend Index is a fundamentally weighted Index that measures the performance of companies with high dividend yields selected from the WisdomTree International Equity Index.
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 this ETF are 0.58%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 5.47%.
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.
When you look at individual holdings, Bhp Group Ltd (BHP) accounts for about 5.61% of the fund's total assets, followed by Novartis Ag (NOVN) and Totalenergies (TTE).
The top 10 holdings account for about 24.16% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, DTH has added about 8.96%, and it's up approximately 6.53% in the last one year (as of 05/01/2023). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $30.01 and $39.56.
The ETF has a beta of 0.80 and standard deviation of 17.49% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 541 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
WisdomTree International High Dividend ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Developed World ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.
IShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA) tracks MSCI EAFE Index and the iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA) tracks MSCI EAFE Investable Market Index. IShares MSCI EAFE ETF has $50.13 billion in assets, iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF has $99.07 billion. EFA has an expense ratio of 0.33% and IEFA charges 0.07%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Broad Developed World ETFs.
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 International High Dividend ETF (DTH): ETF Research Reports
BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR (BHP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA): ETF Research Reports
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA): ETF Research Reports
Novan (NOVN): Free Stock Analysis Report
TotalEnergies SE Sponsored ADR (TTE) : Free Stock Analysis Report