Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
DGRO vs VHT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, DGRO returned +18.8% to VHT's +25.0%; 17% of their weight is in the same names.
askIQ about this page
askIQ about DGRO and VHT
Net assets: $44.6bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF, and $19.1bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Health Care ETF.
Pair scorecard
DGRO costs 0.01 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 6.2 points; DGRO is 2.2 times larger.
| Measure | DGRO | VHT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +18.8% | +25.0% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index | MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Health Care 25/50 |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.08% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $41.9bn | $19.1bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 17% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 27.2% | 51.8% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jun 20, 2014 to Oct 23, 2026 · 644 weekly returnsDGRO returned more: +321.3% to +257.0%. DGRO swung slightly less: 15.3% to 16.9%. VHT fell less at its worst: −25.6% to −32.1%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DGRO | VHT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +321.3% | +257.0% | DGRO | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +12.3% | +10.8% | DGRO | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +216.7% | +198.3% | DGRO (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 15.3% | 16.9% | DGRO (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.7% | 11.8% | DGRO (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −32.1% | −25.6% | VHT | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.70 | 0.57 | DGRO | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.00 | 0.82 | DGRO | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.38 | 0.42 | VHT (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 644 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, DGRO and VHT hold 17% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
17% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
DGRO and VHT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
DGRO and VHT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. DGRO follows Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index and VHT follows MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Health Care 25/50.
- Holdings in common. 17% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 DGRO returned +18.8% and VHT +25.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 6.2 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.
DGRO
DGRO tracks an index of Dividend Growth. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.08% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 92% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 393 positions, with the top ten at 27.2%.
VHT
VHT tracks an index of Health Care. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +25.0% with distributions reinvested, against +25.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Health Care 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 86% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 414 positions, with the top ten at 51.8%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, DGRO or VHT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DGRO returned +18.8% and VHT +25.0%.
- Which is cheaper, DGRO or VHT?
- DGRO is cheaper, by 0.01 percentage points a year. That is about $1 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, DGRO against VHT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dgro-vs-vht
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). DGRO against VHT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dgro-vs-vht
[DGRO against VHT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dgro-vs-vht)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.