Lan Anh Tran: The search for well-constructed high dividend yield ETFs can be fraught with difficult choices. The classic trade-off between high yields and high quality is a constant dilemma, as larger yields can often come from plunging stock prices instead of growing dividend payments.
But fear not, a good number of dividend ETFs set out to balance this equation. Here are three under-the-radar, high-yielding stock ETFs that might be worth a spot in your portfolio.
3 Dividend-Stock ETFs That Are Flying Under the Radar
- Fidelity High Dividend ETF FDVV
- SPDR Russell 1000 Yield Focus ETF ONEY
- WisdomTree LargeCap Dividend ETF DLN
First up on our list is Silver-rated Fidelity High Dividend ETF FDVV. This ETF threads the needle between income and quality. It scores each dividend-payer on their yield, payout ratio, and dividend growth. While dividend yield still takes the center stage, favoring sustainable payout ratio and healthy dividend growth pulls this ETF away from unstable companies with poor financial health.
The ETF picks out the best growing stock within each sector for its final lineup, and weights them based on their market capitalization. This essentially prevents a fund from veering too far from the sector composition of the broader market. It still takes some active sector bets in the form of reallocating weights from the lowest-yielding sectors to the highest-yielding ones.
The resulting portfolio delivers respectable payout while safeguarding itself from value traps that plague laxer dividend strategies. As of June 2025, the trailing 12-month yield on this ETF was 3.2%, compared to just 1.9% on the Russell 1000 Value Index. The next option, Gold-rated SPDR Russell 1000 Yield Focus ETF, O-N-E-Y, ONEY, delivers a slightly different flavor of high yield.
This ETF combines its dividend mandate with well-vetted equity risk factors to outperform and outpay peers. Starting with a Russell 1000 Index portfolio, this ETF tilts towards companies that exhibit high yields, small size, low valuations, and strong quality. Dividend yield is the focus here, as the name implies, and receives twice the weightings of the other factors. But the ETF benefits from the other factors still.
Incorporating quality helps the ETF weed out deteriorating, unprofitable businesses that tend to lurk in a yield and value-oriented portfolio. This lets the fund safely harvest its high payout and value premium. A trailing 12-month yield has been consistently higher than those of the broader US stock market, as well as the Russell 1000 Value Index.
Favoring smaller stocks put this ETF in the mid-cap value Morningstar Category, but both its payout and long-term return can compete with large-cap dividend peers. And last but not least, we have the WisdomTree Large-Cap Dividend ETF DLN. While the first two ETF dive headfirst into the high-yield territory, this ETF takes a more measured approach to earn its payout while dampening risk.
WisdomTree filters out the largest 300 dividend-payers in the market and weights them based on their expected cash dividend instead of the usual dividend yield. This isolates the impact from the dividend stream of each name, and the ETF controls the quality separately by calculating a composite quality and momentum score that removes struggling companies. It also tilts toward stock that exhibits stronger profitability and better momentum to further protect its portfolio.
The fund’s dividend yield tends to be lower than more aggressive high-yield ETF peers but is still higher than those of the Russell 1000 Value Index. Its performance also benefits from the sensible quality tilt, and the fund has outperformed the index on both an absolute and risk-adjusted basis since its 2006 inception through June 2025.
Watch 3 Great ETFs for Rebalancing Your Portfolio in 2025 for more from Lan Anh Tran.