DES vs DGRO: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

WisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Dividend Fund

DESBNYSE Arca

iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF

DGROANYSE Arca

Overlap

0.3%by weight

Expense ratio

DGRO −0.30pt a year

DES0.38%DGRO0.08%

Avg volume · 30D

DGRO 13.9×the volume

DES104KDGRO1.44M

10Y return · a year

DGRO +6.2pt

DES+7.7%DGRO+13.9%

DES vs DGRO Performance

Nov 9, 2021 – Nov 9, 2026

+34.0%DES+69.0%DGRO

Expense ratio: DES 0.38%; DGRO 0.08%, better
Fund size: DES $2.07B; DGRO $44.7B
1Y total return: DES +22.8%, better; DGRO +22.5%
Yield (12M): DES 2.29%, better; DGRO 1.84%
Holdings: DES 508; DGRO 394
Avg volume (30D): DES 104K sh; DGRO 1.44M sh, better
NAV per share: DES $38.55; DGRO $79.79
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for DES, DGRO, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	DES	DGRO
Cost30% weight	C45	A88Higher
Mission25% weight	A83	A99Higher
Risk15% weight	F21	A76Higher
Tradability15% weight	C44	A88Higher
Holdings10% weight	A86Higher	B63
Durability5% weight	A72	A87Higher

Rank among US Dividend Index funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. DES 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 DES 28th 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 27BCSBVictoryShares US Small Cap High Div Volatility Wtd ETFScore 57
Rank 28BDESWisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Dividend FundScore 56
Rank 28BFVDFirst Trust Value Line Dividend Index FundScore 56

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

DESBWisdomTree U.S. SmallCap Dividend Fund

DGROAiShares Core Dividend Growth ETF

In short

DES Most dividend ETFs crowd into the same mega-cap payers. DES points the dividend screen at the other end of the market: small U.S. companies that actually write checks, on a WisdomTree index running since 2006.

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

DES The fund seeks to track dividend-paying small-cap companies in the U.S. equity market.

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

Why people hold it

DES Rare mandate: a dividend screen aimed at U.S. small caps rather than the mega-cap payer roster nearly every rival dividend fund owns.
Launched in 2006, one of the older dividend ETFs still running, and now a multi-billion-dollar fund with a long unbroken record through several market cycles.
Pays monthly, not the quarterly cadence most dividend funds stick to.
Spread across about 600 names, so one small-cap blowup does not steer the whole portfolio. Diversification is among the stronger features here.

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

DES 0.38% a year sits right around the middle of the dividend-screen crowd, and large-cap options like SCHD (0.06%) and VIG (0.04%) charge a fraction of it.
Small-cap payers move harder than blue chips, so this is the bumpier corner of the dividend aisle.
Volume is moderate rather than heavy, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than in the biggest dividend ETFs.

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 DES profile⁠

Full DGRO profile⁠

DES vs DGRO Holdings

How DES and DGRO differ

Overlap by weight

0.3%

Shared holdings make up 8.1% of DES and 0.3% of DGRO.

Level by level

Holdings18 in both0.3%
Sector11 Sectors60.9%
Countryby domicile99.3%
Asset classStocks100%

Sector

Sector weights in DES and DGRO, widest gap first
Sector	Gap	DES	DGRO
Health Care	DGRO +15.5 points	2.4%	17.9%
Technology	DGRO +11.0 points	5.7%	16.7%
Consumer Staples	DGRO +9.9 points	3.2%	13.1%
Consumer Discretionary	DES +9.9 points	16.4%	6.5%
Real Estate	DES +9.3 points	9.3%	0.0%
Financials	DES +7.2 points	26.8%	19.6%
Energy	DES +4.3 points	9.6%	5.3%
Materials	DES +3.4 points	5.9%	2.5%
Communication	DES +2.6 points	2.7%	0.1%
Utilities	DGRO +2.6 points	4.7%	7.3%
Industrials	DES +2.4 points	13.3%	10.9%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in DES and DGRO, widest gap first
Country	More in DESMore in DGRO	Gap	DES	DGRO
United States		DES +0.7 points	100.0%	99.3%
Other countries (4)		DGRO +0.7 points	0.0%	0.7%

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

DES9.5%
DGRO26.9%

Securities held

DES506
DGRO391

Asset class

DES: Stocks
DGRO: Stocks

Holdings

Only in DES488
In both18
Only in DGRO373

Only in DES

488 securities, 91.8% of DES by weight

TFS Financial Corp1.20%
Entertainment Properties Trust1.15%
PBF Energy Inc1.02%
Sonoco Products Co0.96%
Travel + Leisure Co0.90%
Outfront Media Inc0.87%
Patterson-UTI Energy Inc0.78%
Hannon Armstrong Sustainable0.77%
Americold Realty Trust0.77%
Iridium Communications Inc0.76%
Bath & Body Works Inc0.72%
Kodiak Gas Services Inc0.71%
Inter Parfums Inc0.71%
First Interstate BancSystem Inc0.71%
First Bancorp/Puerto Rico0.69%
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co/The0.68%
Provident Financial Services Inc0.68%
Archrock Inc0.65%
Avista Corp0.64%
Federated Hermes Inc0.62%
Avient Corp0.61%
Cheesecake Factory Inc/The0.58%
Associated Banc-Corp0.58%
HomeStreet Inc0.57%
Crescent Energy Inc-A0.57%
Polaris Inc0.56%
Drew Industries Inc0.55%
Northern Oil And Gas Inc0.55%
Buckle Inc/The0.55%
Northwest Natural Gas Co0.54%
Clear Secure Inc -Class A0.54%
Science Applications International Corp0.52%
WesBanco Inc0.51%
Fulton Financial Corp0.51%
Harley-Davidson Inc0.50%
Sunococorp Llc0.50%
Helmerich & Payne Inc0.49%
Delek US Holdings Inc0.48%
National Health Investors Inc0.48%
Korn Ferry0.48%
Eastern Bankshares Inc0.45%
Pitney Bowes Inc0.45%
CVB Financial Corp0.45%
Cohen & Steers Inc0.44%
Trinity Industries Inc0.44%
Matson Inc0.44%
Highwoods Properties Inc0.43%
SL Green Realty Corp0.43%
United Community Banks Inc/GA0.43%
Cousins Properties Inc0.43%

Only in DGRO

373 securities, 99.4% of DGRO by weight

Microsoft3.14%
Apple3.07%
AbbVie3.06%
Exxonmobil Holdings Corp2.99%
Johnson & Johnson2.86%
JPMorgan Chase & Co2.68%
Procter & Gamble2.52%
Broadcom Inc2.19%
Home Depot2.19%
Philip Morris International2.18%
Coca-Cola1.98%
Pepsico1.83%
UnitedHealth Group1.82%
Merck & Co Inc1.80%
International Business Machines Co1.46%
Eli Lilly1.43%
Amgen Inc1.26%
Bank of America1.26%
Mcdonalds Corp1.25%
Cisco Systems Inc1.25%
Wells Fargo1.24%
Accenture PLC Class A1.22%
Nextera Energy1.19%
Visa Class A1.13%
Walmart1.12%
Morgan Stanley1.00%
Gilead Sciences0.99%
Abbott Laboratories0.97%
Goldman Sachs Group0.96%
Conocophillips0.90%
Medtronic PLC0.88%
Citigroup0.86%
Qualcomm0.84%
Rtx0.82%
Southern0.81%
Duke Energy Corp0.79%
Union Pacific0.74%
BlackRock0.74%
Linde PLC0.70%
Mastercard Class A0.69%
Lowes Companies Inc0.68%
Costco Wholesale Corp0.66%
Automatic Data Processing Inc0.65%
Pnc Financial Services Group0.64%
Lockheed Martin0.64%
Mondelez International Class A0.61%
Oracle0.55%
Tjx0.48%
Eog Resources0.48%
Analog Devices0.47%

Weight gaps

All 18 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in DES and DGRO, widest gap first
Holding	Gap	DES	DGRO
NorthWestern Energy Group IncNWE	DES +1.08 points	1.12%	0.04%
Victory Capital Holding - AVCTR	DES +0.74 points	0.76%	0.02%
Avnet IncAVT	DES +0.73 points	0.75%	0.02%
California Resources CorpCRC	DES +0.58 points	0.60%	0.02%
Brunswick Corp/DEBC	DES +0.48 points	0.51%	0.03%
Kontoor Brands IncKTB	DES +0.44 points	0.47%	0.03%
Magnolia Oil & Gas CorpMGY	DES +0.43 points	0.46%	0.03%
Cabot CorpCBT	DES +0.43 points	0.45%	0.02%
MDU Resources Group IncMDU	DES +0.41 points	0.43%	0.02%
Griffon CorpGFF	DES +0.38 points	0.39%	<0.01%
Silgan Holdings IncSLGN	DES +0.37 points	0.39%	0.02%
Rush Enterprises IncRUSHA	DES +0.29 points	0.30%	0.01%
First Financial Bankshares IncFFIN	DES +0.29 points	0.31%	0.02%
CNO Financial Group IncCNO	DES +0.23 points	0.25%	0.02%
Franklin Electric Co IncFELE	DES +0.23 points	0.24%	<0.01%
Mueller Water Products IncMWA	DES +0.21 points	0.22%	<0.01%
ServisFirst Bancshares IncSFBS	DES +0.21 points	0.23%	0.02%
Rush Enterprises Inc - Cl BRUSHB	DES +0.20 points	0.20%	<0.01%

All 586 DES 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.

DES vs DGRO Cost

Overpaying DES vs DGRO

$6,017

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

DES 0.38%
$7,706
DGRO 0.08%
$1,689

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

DES 0.38%
DGRO 0.08%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	DES	DGRO	Overpaying
10	$688	$147	$541
20	$2,658	$575	$2,083
30	$7,706	$1,689	$6,017

Expense ratio

0.38%DES
0.08%DGRO, cheaper

DGRO0.08%DES0.38%

0.04%0.70%

Middle half of US Dividend Index funds
Median 0.35%

DGRO 8th cheapest of 52 funds

DES 28th cheapest of 52 funds

DES vs DGRO Dividends

Last 12 months to Nov 9, 2026

Yield (12M): DES 2.29%, better; DGRO 1.84%
Payout (12M): DES $0.90; DGRO $1.49
Last payment: DES $0.05; DGRO $0.39
Ex-dividend: DES Oct 27, 2026; DGRO Sep 15, 2026
Paid on: DES Oct 29, 2026; DGRO Sep 18, 2026
Frequency: DES Monthly; DGRO Quarterly

Distribution history

Per share, 2023 to 2026, same scale for both

DESMonthly · 46 paymentsAll DES payments⁠

DGROQuarterly · 15 paymentsAll DGRO payments⁠

DES vs DGRO Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

DES
DGRO

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: DES 17.4%DGRO 10.8%, better
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: DES 0.70DGRO 1.47, better
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: DES −25.3%DGRO −19.3%, better
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: DES 0.91DGRO 0.67; Market = 1

DES 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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DES vs DGRO

In short

Stated mandate

Why people hold it