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Launched · SEC filings

Vanguard Utilities ETF

VPUNYSE ArcaVanguardB

$188.64+1.06 (+0.57%)

At close: Nov 2, 2026, 4:00 PM ET

B66/ 100

Rank 3 of 10 in Utilities (Broad)

B66/100Rank 3 of 10inUtilities (Broad)
Intraday session: up, 79 prints from 187.58 to 188.64. Range 186.95 to 189.06. Use the arrow keys to read each point.187.00188.00189.0010 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.09%
Fund size · all share classes
$9.5B
1Y total return
+0.5%
Yield · Last 12 months
2.76%
Holdings
75
Avg volume · 30D
313K sh
52W range
low $169.37high $206.10
Launched
Filings
SEC EDGAR

The ETF.net VPU Grade

B

Score 66 out of 100

Category
Utilities (Broad)⁠
Rank
3 of 10
Six-pillar profile for VPU. Scores out of 100: Cost 72, Risk 40, Mission 88, Tradability 53, Holdings 49, Durability 83. Strongest: Mission (88). Weakest: Risk (40). Leans toward Mission and Durability.

Score 66 of 100 falls in the B band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.

  • Cost

    The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.
    A72 out of 100
    Rank 3 of 10

  • Mission

    Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.
    A88 out of 100
    Rank 2 of 6

  • Risk

    How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.
    C40 out of 100
    Rank 9 of 10

  • Tradability

    How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.
    C53 out of 100
    Rank 4 of 10

  • Holdings

    How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.
    C49 out of 100
    Rank 7 of 10

  • Durability

    Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.
    A83 out of 100
    Rank 1 of 10

Our read on VPU

ETF.net Research

In short

BUtilities, the whole sector, not just the S&P 500 slice. VPU tracks an index that reaches past the megacap names into mid and small utilities, about 70 in all, for 0.09% a year. Vanguard has run it since 2004.

Stated mandate

The fund seeks to track the MSCI US Investable Market Utilities 25/50 Index through a primarily full-replication, passively managed strategy.

Why people hold it

  • At 0.09% a year, it costs roughly a quarter of the median utilities fund fee. In a sector where the holdings barely differ between funds, the fee is most of the fight.
  • Its MSCI Investable Market benchmark spans large, mid and small US utilities. XLU, by contrast, drafts only from the S&P 500 universe, so the smaller names never appear.vanguard.comssga.com
  • The index's 25/50 caps exist to keep any single issuer under 25% and the pile of 5%-plus names under half the fund, a guardrail in a sector with a few giants.msci.com
  • Plain full replication since 2004: buy the index, hold the index. Tracking here has been among the tightest in the US utilities group.

Worth knowing

  • One sector, about 70 stocks. It swings on rate expectations and regulator decisions, with nothing outside utilities to cushion it.
  • XLU and FUTY shave the fee to 0.08%, and XLU is the more heavily traded ticker if order size matters to you.
  • Income arrives quarterly, not monthly, so the cash lands in four lumps a year.

VPU Holdings

Holdings pillarC49 out of 100Rank 7 of 10 in Utilities (Broad)
Asset class
Stocks
Holdings
75
Top-10 weight
52%
Largest holding
NEE11.4%

Sectors

  • Utilities99.2%
  • Energy0.5%
  • Industrials0.3%

Geography

  • United States100.00%
The fund’s holdings, weight-ordered — page 1 of 5.
#TickerCompanyWeight %SharesMarket valueHeld by ETFs
1NEENextEra Energy Inc11.39%14,334,649$1.09B416
2SOSouthern Co/The6.74%7,748,106$642M342
3DUKDuke Energy Corp6.41%5,358,281$611M331
4CEGConstellation Energy Corp5.73%2,147,608$546M376
5AEPAmerican Electric Power Co Inc4.66%3,739,721$444M346
6DDominion Energy Inc3.84%6,045,011$366M286
7SRESempra3.68%4,493,021$350M308
8VSTVistra Corp3.37%2,317,499$321M351
9ETREntergy Corp3.34%3,206,966$318M318
10XELXcel Energy Inc3.17%4,290,688$302M319
11EXCExelon Corp2.98%7,032,662$284M356
12EDConsolidated Edison Inc2.72%2,532,961$259M333
13PEGPublic Service Enterprise Group Inc2.42%3,425,021$231M294
14WECWEC Energy Group Inc2.37%2,238,758$226M285
15AEEAmeren Corp1.98%1,902,141$189M286

Showing 1–15 of 75 holdings

VPU Performance

Launched Jan 26, 2004

Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.

VPU$10,046
SPY tracks large US stocks. It provides market context, rather than representing this fund’s strategy, asset class or investment benchmark.$11,146
Oct 31, 2025 to Nov 2, 2026. VPU $10,046. SPY $11,146. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$9,000$10,000$11,000Oct 2025May 2026Nov 2026

Oct 31, 2025 – Nov 2, 2026

Returns run to the Nov 2, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.

Trailing total return for VPU. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodVPU
Year to date+4.0%
1 month+9.3%
3 months−0.6%
1 year+0.5%
3 yearsper year+15.9%
5 yearsper year+8.4%
10 yearsper year+9.4%

With distributions reinvested.

Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.

Annual total returns for VPU
YearReturn barVPU
2026 YTD+4.0%
2025+16.5%
2024+23.1%
2023−7.5%
2022+1.0%
2021+17.4%
2020−0.8%

VPU in the news

VPU Dividends

Adds up every distribution paid per share over the last 12 months, divided by the last completed close. Distributions are counted by ex-date. Data through Nov 2, 2026.
2.76%Last 12 months
Payout per share
$5.20Last 12 months
Last payment
$1.26 per share
Paid on
Shares bought on or after this date do not qualify for this distribution.
Frequency
Quarterly

Distribution history

2017–2026

One bar per payment. 39 payments from 2017 to 2026 YTD. Mar 24, 2017 $0.93; Jun 28, 2017 $0.88; Sep 27, 2017 $0.96; Dec 14, 2017 $0.94; Mar 16, 2018 $0.84; Jun 28, 2018 $1.02; Sep 24, 2018 $0.93; Dec 13, 2018 $1.02; Mar 21, 2019 $0.95; Jun 21, 2019 $0.98; Sep 26, 2019 $1.09; Dec 16, 2019 $1.02; Mar 10, 2020 $0.87; Jun 22, 2020 $1.26; Sep 11, 2020 $0.89; Dec 17, 2020 $1.33; Mar 26, 2021 $0.96; Jun 21, 2021 $1.01; Sep 29, 2021 $1.19; Dec 16, 2021 $1.06; Mar 24, 2022 $1.01; Jun 23, 2022 $1.09; Sep 28, 2022 $1.28; Dec 15, 2022 $1.20; Mar 24, 2023 $1.14; Jun 29, 2023 $1.11; Sep 28, 2023 $1.21; Dec 19, 2023 $1.31; Mar 22, 2024 $1.10; Jun 28, 2024 $1.24; Sep 27, 2024 $1.31; Dec 18, 2024 $1.28; Mar 25, 2025 $1.23; Jun 26, 2025 $1.23; Sep 24, 2025 $1.23; Dec 17, 2025 $1.36; Mar 24, 2026 $1.28; Jun 24, 2026 $1.30; Sep 23, 2026 $1.26. Use the arrow keys to read each point.2017201820192020202120222023202420252026YTD
Ex-datePay dateAmount per share
Sep 23, 2026Sep 25, 2026$1.26
Jun 24, 2026Jun 26, 2026$1.30
Mar 24, 2026Mar 26, 2026$1.28
Dec 17, 2025Dec 19, 2025$1.36
Sep 24, 2025Sep 26, 2025$1.23
Jun 26, 2025Jun 30, 2025$1.23
Mar 25, 2025Mar 27, 2025$1.23
Dec 18, 2024Dec 20, 2024$1.28
Sep 27, 2024Oct 1, 2024$1.31
Jun 28, 2024Jul 2, 2024$1.24
Mar 22, 2024Mar 27, 2024$1.10
Dec 19, 2023Dec 22, 2023$1.31

See all 88 payments⁠

$10,000 in VPU 10 years ago paid $4,229 in dividends.⁠

VPU Risk

Risk pillarC40 out of 100Rank 9 of 10 in Utilities (Broad)
How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
15.6%
Annualised · 36 months to Oct 2026
How it’s calculated: standard deviation

The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.

Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.

Return above 3-month US Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
0.80
vs 3-month T-bills · to Oct 2026
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio

Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.

Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.

Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.

The largest fall from a peak to the low that followed.
−25.1%
Trough Oct 2023
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown

The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.

Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.

How strongly the fund’s returns move with its asset-class index.
0.50
vs its asset-class index
How it’s calculated: beta

The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.

FMP measures it over up to five years of monthly returns.

VPU Cost

Compare VPU and XLU

Overpaying vs XLU, cheapest in Utilities (Broad)

$209

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

  • VPU 0.09%

    $1,898

  • XLU 0.08% Cheapest

    $1,689

$10,000
30 years

Cost over time

  • VPU 0.09%
  • XLU 0.08%
  • Overpaying
One line per fund, from year 0 to year 30. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$0$500$1K$1.5K$2K051015202530VPU $1,898XLU $1,689

Year by year

YearVPUXLUOverpaying
10$165$147$18
20$646$575$71
30$1,898$1,689$209

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