Three Dividend ETFs Outside the S&P 500 That Are Beating It and Paying Up to 3.4 Percent

1 hour ago 1

John Seetoo

Thu, May 21, 2026 astatine 8:35 AM CDT 6 min read

Quick Read

  • WisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Dividend Fund (DES) surged 14% YTD by filtering unprofitable tiny caps done dividend requirements.

  • The expert who called NVIDIA successful 2010 conscionable named his apical 10 stocks and VictoryShares US Large Cap High Div Volatility Wtd Index ETF wasn't 1 of them. Get them present FREE.

Most dividend ETF conversations commencement and extremity with the S&P 500. That is good if you already ain Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF oregon Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF and privation 1 much large-cap variant. It is limiting if you are trying to physique an income watercourse from companies the large-cap dividend assemblage ne'er touches. Three funds widen that aperture: WisdomTree U.S. MidCap Dividend Fund (NYSEARCA:DON), WisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Dividend Fund (NYSEARCA:DES), and VictoryShares US Large Cap High Div Volatility Wtd ETF (NYSEARCA:CDL).

Two of the 3 are outpacing the S&P 500 outright this year. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust is up 8% twelvemonth to date, portion DES has returned 14% and CDL has returned 11%. The third, DON, is up 6% and trailing slightly, but it earns its spot for a antithetic crushed explained below. CDL is besides the output leader, distributing astir 3.4% connected a trailing basis.

Why look past the S&P 500 for dividend income

The S&P 500's dividend output is anchored by a fistful of mega caps that prioritize buybacks. Mid-cap and small-cap dividend payers are usually mature businesses with steadier payout ratios and little buyback dilution mathematics to manage. They besides commercialized astatine little multiples, truthful a akin payout funds a higher yield. And a volatility-weighted surface connected ample caps deliberately demotes the heaviest mega-cap names, producing an income premix that looks thing similar the cap-weighted benchmark. Each of these 3 funds takes 1 of those routes.

DON: mid-cap dividends, weighted by dollars paid

DON tracks the WisdomTree U.S. MidCap Dividend Index, a rules-based beingness of mid-cap U.S. companies that wage regular currency dividends. The hook is the weighting method: alternatively of marketplace cap, holdings are weighted by the dollar magnitude of dividends each institution pays. A mid headdress distributing $400 cardinal annually gets much value than 1 distributing $100 million, adjacent if their marketplace caps are similar. The mechanics connecting this money to the taxable is direct: much of your wealth sits successful companies that really chopped ample checks to shareholders.

The expert who called NVIDIA successful 2010 conscionable named his apical 10 stocks and VictoryShares US Large Cap High Div Volatility Wtd Index ETF wasn't 1 of them. Get them present FREE.

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