CDL vs DGRO: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

VictoryShares US Large Cap High Div Volatility Wtd ETF

CDLBNasdaq

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF

DGROANYSE Arca

Overlap

20.5%by weight

Expense ratio

DGRO −0.27pt a year

CDL0.35%DGRO0.08%

Avg volume · 30D

DGRO 159.6×the volume

CDL8.69KDGRO1.39M

10Y return · a year

DGRO +2.6pt

CDL+11.7%DGRO+14.3%

CDL vs DGRO Performance

Nov 2, 2021 – Nov 2, 2026

+64.2%CDL+70.2%DGRO

Expense ratio: CDL 0.35%; DGRO 0.08%, better
Fund size: CDL $410M; DGRO $45.3B
1Y total return: CDL +24.4%, better; DGRO +21.8%
Yield (12M): CDL 3.01%, better; DGRO 1.84%
Holdings: CDL 101; DGRO 394
Avg volume (30D): CDL 8.69K sh; DGRO 1.39M sh, better
NAV per share: CDL $81.20; DGRO $81.00
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for CDL, DGRO, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	CDL	DGRO
Cost30% weight	B57	A88Higher
Mission25% weight	A86	A98Higher
Risk15% weight	A70	A77Higher
Tradability15% weight	C53	A91Higher
Holdings10% weight	A78Higher	B62
Durability5% weight	B55	A87Higher

Rank among US Dividend Index funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. CDL and DGRO are both graded against the same 52 US Dividend Index funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

US Dividend Index⁠

Category · 52 funds

See all 52 ›

DGRO ranks 1st and CDL 15th of 52 funds in the US Dividend Index Category.

Rank 1ADGROiShares Core Dividend Growth ETFScore 86
Rank 2ASCHDSchwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETFScore 81
Rank 14BCDCVictoryShares US EQ Income Enhanced Volatility Wtd ETFScore 68
Rank 15BCDLVictoryShares US Large Cap High Div Volatility Wtd ETFScore 67
Rank 15BSDOGALPS Sector Dividend Dogs ETFScore 67

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

CDLBVictoryShares US Large Cap High Div Volatility Wtd ETF

DGROAiShares Core Dividend Growth ETF

In short

CDL CDL sizes its positions by volatility instead of company size: roughly 100 high-yielding US large caps, with the calmer names getting the wider berth. Income lands monthly.

DGRO BlackRock's dividend-growth screen casts a wider net than most: five straight years of raises rather than ten, plus a payout-ratio cap that filters out stretched payers. About 400 US dividend raisers, large through small cap, for 0.08% a year.

Stated mandate

CDL The fund seeks to track the performance of the CEMP US Large Cap High Dividend 100 Volatility Weighted Index before fees and expenses. It normally invests at least 80% of net assets in stocks included in that index.

DGRO The fund seeks to follow an index of U.S. equities whose dividends have grown consistently.

Why people hold it

CDL The index screens US large caps for high dividends, then weights the survivors by volatility, so a stock's slot is set by how it trades, not how big it is.
Pays monthly, a smoother cadence than the calendar most equity income portfolios run on.
Running since 2015 and still doing the advertised job: at least 80% of net assets in its index's names, tracked closely.
Lands in the upper half of a crowded dividend-screen field, with the underlying basket among its stronger features.

DGRO Costs 0.08% a year, a small fraction of the typical fee among US dividend-screen ETFs.
The screen has teeth: a qualified dividend, five years of uninterrupted dividend growth, a payout ratio under 75%, and the top decile of yielders cut before the other tests run.ishares.com
Roughly 400 names across large, mid and small caps, weighted by the dividend dollars each company pays rather than by market cap.ishares.com cib.barclays
Tracks the Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index about as tightly as this group gets, and it's an actively traded, multi-billion-dollar fund that has run since 2014.

Worth knowing

CDL The 0.39% fee sits right at the peer median, but big index-tracking rivals like SCHD (0.06%), VIG (0.04%) and DGRO (0.08%) run at a fraction of it.
Thinly traded for the category, so spreads can be wider at the moment you place an order.
A yield screen plus volatility weighting builds a portfolio that looks little like a cap-weighted index, so it moves on its own schedule.

DGRO Chopping the highest-yielding decile is deliberate: this is built around payout growth and dividend durability, not the fattest current yield on the shelf.ishares.com
Only dividend payers qualify, so some of the market's biggest non-paying growth companies sit outside the portfolio by rule.ishares.com
Income arrives quarterly, not monthly, and this is plain US stock exposure: no buffer, no hedge, full equity risk.

Full CDL profile⁠

Full DGRO profile⁠

CDL vs DGRO Holdings

How CDL and DGRO differ

Overlap by weight

20.5%

Shared holdings make up 54.4% of CDL and 29.6% of DGRO.

Level by level

Holdings50 in both20.5%
Sector11 Sectors66.3%
Countryby domicile98.7%
Asset classEquity100%

Sector

Sector weights in CDL and DGRO, widest gap first
Sector	More in CDLMore in DGRO	CDL	DGRO
Utilities	CDL +17.0 points	24.1%	7.1%
Technology	DGRO +14.0 points	3.8%	17.8%
Health Care	DGRO +11.6 points	6.0%	17.6%
Industrials	DGRO +6.5 points	4.7%	11.2%
Energy	CDL +4.0 points	9.8%	5.8%
Consumer Staples	CDL +4.0 points	16.6%	12.6%
Communication	CDL +4.0 points	4.1%	0.1%
Consumer Discretionary	CDL +3.8 points	9.9%	6.1%
Materials	DGRO +1.6 points	0.8%	2.4%
Financials	CDL +0.9 points	20.3%	19.4%
Real Estate	Same weight	0.0%	0.0%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in CDL and DGRO, widest gap first
Country	More in CDLMore in DGRO	CDL	DGRO
United Kingdom	CDL +0.8 points	0.8%	0.0%
United States	DGRO +0.5 points	98.7%	99.2%
Ireland	CDL +0.5 points	0.5%	0.0%
Other countries (3)	DGRO +0.7 points	0.0%	0.7%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

CDL15.7%
DGRO27.1%

Securities held

CDL100
DGRO391

Asset class

CDL: Equity
DGRO: Equity

Holdings

Only in CDL50
In both50
Only in DGRO341

Only in CDL

50 securities, 45.2% of CDL by weight

Firstenergy Corp.1.58%
Ppl Corp.1.45%
Exelon Corp.1.35%
Pfizer Inc.1.29%
Kinder Morgan Inc1.28%
Eversource Energy1.18%
Chevron Corp1.17%
Keycorp1.13%
Us Bancorp1.12%
Medtronic PLC1.11%
Prudential Financial Inc1.10%
Kimberly-Clark Corp1.07%
Williams Cos Inc.1.07%
Altria Group Inc.1.07%
Truist Financial Corp1.05%
Regions Financial Corp.1.05%
Hasbro Inc.1.00%
Viper Energy Inc0.98%
T Rowe Price Group Inc.0.97%
Progressive Corp.0.95%
Citizens Financial Group0.93%
Huntington Bancshares Inc0.92%
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co0.91%
Oneok Inc0.91%
United Parcel Service0.89%
Verizon Communications0.87%
Jm Smucker Co0.85%
Hershey Co/The0.85%
Permian0.84%
Franklin Templeton Inc0.84%
AT&T Inc0.81%
Best Buy Co Inc0.80%
Target Corp.0.79%
Amcor PLC0.77%
Cvs Health Corp0.76%
Paychex Inc.0.75%
Edison International0.74%
Stanley Black & Decker0.73%
Accenture PLC0.72%
Fidelity National Info0.70%
Las Vegas Sands Corp0.67%
Nike Inc. Class B0.67%
Comcast Corp0.67%
Omnicom Group Inc.0.64%
Carlyle Group Inc0.56%
Blackstone Inc0.56%
Hp Inc0.54%
Tpg Inc0.54%
Smurfit Westrock PLC0.52%
Blue Owl Capital Inc0.46%

Only in DGRO

341 securities, 70.1% of DGRO by weight

Microsoft3.04%
Apple3.04%
Johnson & Johnson2.78%
JPMorgan Chase & Co2.66%
Broadcom Inc2.40%
Coca-Cola1.92%
UnitedHealth Group1.85%
Merck & Co Inc1.81%
Eli Lilly1.48%
Cisco Systems Inc1.38%
Amgen Inc1.26%
Bank of America1.26%
Wells Fargo1.22%
Accenture PLC Class A1.20%
Nextera Energy1.13%
Visa Class A1.09%
Walmart1.08%
Morgan Stanley1.00%
Gilead Sciences1.00%
Goldman Sachs Group0.98%
Abbott Laboratories0.93%
Citigroup0.87%
Rtx0.85%
Qualcomm0.83%
Medtronic PLC0.82%
Union Pacific0.77%
BlackRock0.71%
Linde PLC0.69%
Mastercard Class A0.67%
Costco Wholesale Corp0.63%
Lowes Companies Inc0.62%
Automatic Data Processing Inc0.62%
Oracle0.61%
Analog Devices0.54%
Caterpillar Inc0.50%
Tjx0.49%
Phillips 660.49%
Marsh0.44%
American Express0.43%
Illinois Tool Inc0.41%
Colgate-Palmolive0.40%
Air Products and Chemicals0.37%
Cigna0.36%
General Dynamics Corp0.35%
Deere0.34%
Eaton PLC0.33%
Chubb0.33%
Bank of New York Mellon Corp0.33%
Northrop Grumman Corp0.33%
Waste Management Inc0.32%

Weight gaps

All 50 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in CDL and DGRO, widest gap first
Holding	More in CDLMore in DGRO	CDL	DGRO
Exxonmobil Holdings CorpXOM	DGRO +2.25 points	1.08%	3.33%
AbbVie Inc.ABBV	DGRO +1.93 points	1.12%	3.05%
Evergy IncEVRG	CDL +1.48 points	1.63%	0.15%
Alliant Energy Corp.LNT	CDL +1.46 points	1.59%	0.13%
Wec Energy GroupWEC	CDL +1.44 points	1.73%	0.29%
Cms Energy Corp.CMS	CDL +1.33 points	1.49%	0.16%
Consolidated Edison Inc.ED	CDL +1.31 points	1.62%	0.31%
Philip Morris Int'l Inc.PM	DGRO +1.29 points	0.98%	2.27%
Dte Energy Co.DTE	CDL +1.23 points	1.44%	0.21%
Public Service EnterprisePEG	CDL +1.14 points	1.43%	0.29%
Snap-On Inc.SNA	CDL +1.07 points	1.17%	0.10%
Home Depot Inc/TheHD	DGRO +1.08 points	0.99%	2.07%
Principal Finl Group IncPFG	CDL +1.06 points	1.21%	0.15%
Xcel Energy Inc.XEL	CDL +1.05 points	1.39%	0.34%
Dt Midstream IncDTM	CDL +1.03 points	1.10%	0.07%
Procter & Gamble Co.PG	DGRO +1.01 points	1.41%	2.42%
International Business MaIBM	DGRO +0.99 points	0.53%	1.52%
American Electric Power CAEP	CDL +0.97 points	1.44%	0.47%
M&T Bank CorpMTB	CDL +0.95 points	1.13%	0.17%
Sempra EnergySRE	CDL +0.94 points	1.32%	0.38%
Tyson Foods Inc. - Class ATSN	CDL +0.88 points	1.02%	0.14%
Duke Energy Corp.DUK	CDL +0.87 points	1.65%	0.78%
Penske Auto Group IncPAG	CDL +0.86 points	0.88%	0.02%
Metlife IncMET	CDL +0.85 points	1.13%	0.28%
Keurig Dr Pepper IncKDP	CDL +0.80 points	1.10%	0.30%
Darden Restaurants Inc.DRI	CDL +0.80 points	0.96%	0.16%
Kroger Co/TheKR	CDL +0.79 points	1.01%	0.22%
Warner Music Group CorpWMG	CDL +0.75 points	0.78%	0.03%
Honeywell International IHON	CDL +0.72 points	0.92%	0.20%
Southern CoSO	CDL +0.71 points	1.52%	0.81%
Archer-Daniels-Midland CoADM	CDL +0.70 points	0.89%	0.19%
Ppg Industries Inc.PPG	CDL +0.70 points	0.85%	0.15%
Constellation Brands IncSTZ	CDL +0.69 points	0.83%	0.14%
Fifth Third BancorpFITB	CDL +0.69 points	1.00%	0.31%
Sysco Corp.SYY	CDL +0.66 points	0.90%	0.24%
Bunge Global SABG	CDL +0.65 points	0.72%	0.07%
Cme Group Inc.CME	CDL +0.62 points	1.06%	0.44%
Tractor Supply CoTSCO	CDL +0.62 points	0.72%	0.10%
Mccormick & Co Inc.MKC	CDL +0.59 points	0.69%	0.10%
Pepsico Inc.PEP	DGRO +0.58 points	1.17%	1.75%
Genuine Parts CoGPC	CDL +0.52 points	0.63%	0.11%
Mondelez InternationalMDLZ	CDL +0.51 points	1.10%	0.59%
Pnc Finl Services GroupPNC	CDL +0.50 points	1.14%	0.64%
Zoetis IncZTS	CDL +0.48 points	0.68%	0.20%
Eog Resources IncEOG	CDL +0.43 points	0.96%	0.53%
Microchip Technology IncMCHP	CDL +0.31 points	0.53%	0.22%
Ares Management CorpARES	CDL +0.28 points	0.50%	0.22%
Lockheed Martin CorpLMT	CDL +0.25 points	0.96%	0.71%
Mcdonald's CorpMCD	CDL +0.17 points	1.32%	1.15%
ConocophillipsCOP	DGRO +0.05 points	0.95%	1.00%

All 102 CDL holdings⁠All 391 DGRO holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

CDL vs DGRO Cost

Overpaying CDL vs DGRO

$5,437

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

CDL 0.35%
$7,126
DGRO 0.08%
$1,689

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

CDL 0.35%
DGRO 0.08%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	CDL	DGRO	Overpaying
10	$634	$147	$487
20	$2,454	$575	$1,879
30	$7,126	$1,689	$5,437

Expense ratio

0.35%CDL
0.08%DGRO, cheaper

DGRO0.08%CDL0.35%

0.04%0.70%

Middle half of US Dividend Index funds
Median 0.35%

DGRO 8th cheapest of 52 funds

CDL 20th cheapest of 52 funds

CDL vs DGRO Dividends

Last 12 months to Nov 2, 2026

Yield (12M): CDL 3.01%, better; DGRO 1.84%
Payout (12M): CDL $2.47; DGRO $1.49
Last payment: CDL $0.21; DGRO $0.39
Ex-dividend: CDL Oct 8, 2026; DGRO Sep 15, 2026
Paid on: CDL Oct 9, 2026; DGRO Sep 18, 2026
Frequency: CDL Monthly; DGRO Quarterly

Distribution history

Per share, 2023 to 2026, same scale for both

CDLMonthly · 46 paymentsAll CDL payments⁠

DGROQuarterly · 15 paymentsAll DGRO payments⁠

CDL vs DGRO Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

CDL
DGRO

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: CDL 12.7%DGRO 10.8%, better
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: CDL 1.14DGRO 1.47, better
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: CDL −17.3%, betterDGRO −19.3%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: CDL 0.51DGRO 0.67; Market = 1

CDL and DGRO in the news

All news⁠

Best ETFs
The best growth ETF is the cheap one on the index you want
Updated Nov 2, 2026DGRO
Best ETFs
For a rising dividend, iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF ranks first
Updated Nov 2, 2026DGRO
New ETFs
Eventide lists two ETFs at 0.75% and 0.95% for strategies it already runs
Oct 30, 2026DGRO
Best ETFs
Schwab's dividend ETF returned 22.8% in a year. Its income rate still trails a one-month bill.
Updated Oct 2, 2026DGRO
Income Watch
A 25.22% distribution rate met a -0.32% SEC yield as the 10-year paid 5.01%
Sep 20, 2026DGRO
New ETFs
Raub Brock lists HQDG, an active dividend-growth ETF priced at 0.50%
Sep 8, 2026DGRO

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