SCHD vs. VIG vs. DGRO: Dividend ETF Holdings and Basket Analysis

SCHD tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index. It excludes REITs and screens for at least 10 consecutive years of dividend payments, minimum float-adjusted market capitalization of $500 million, and three-month average daily trading value of at least $2 million. Stocks in the higher-yielding half of the eligible universe proceed to scoring. The index ranks free cash flow to total debt, return on equity, indicated annual dividend yield, and five-year dividend growth. It then applies a three-year volatility screen and buffer rules when selecting 100 constituents. The index is capped float-market-cap weighted quarterly, with a 4% single-stock cap and a 25% sector cap. Yield is one input, not the whole selection rule. See the S&P Dow Jones methodology and Schwab fund page.

VIG tracks the S&P U.S. Dividend Growers Index. Eligible companies must have increased dividends every year for 10 years. The index removes the highest-yielding 25% of eligible stocks, then weights those remaining by float-adjusted market capitalization, capped at 4% per company. A dividend-growth screen is not a high-current-yield screen: VIG deliberately excludes the top yield group. See the S&P Dividend Growers methodology and Vanguard VIG page.

DGRO tracks the Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index. A company must currently pay dividends, show at least five consecutive years of growth, have positive consensus earnings forecasts, and keep its forward payout ratio below 75%. REITs and the highest-yielding 10% of the U.S. dividend-screened universe are excluded. The index weights companies by expected total dividend dollars over the next 12 months, with a 3% company cap; membership is reset annually and weights are rebalanced quarterly. See the Morningstar index rules and iShares DGRO page.

The rules differ in more than how many years of dividend history they require. They screen high yields differently and use different weighting systems. A longer dividend record alone does not prove that a future payment is secure, and the shorter DGRO history rule does not by itself mean lower quality.

As checked on September 26, 2026, the newest full issuer snapshots used here are SCHD holdings dated September 24, VIG holdings dated July 31, and DGRO’s official holdings CSV dated September 23. Sector weights are separately dated: June 30 for SCHD, July 31 for VIG, and September 24 for DGRO. Each row below carries its date because issuer pages can refresh different sections on different schedules. See the Schwab page, Vanguard page, iShares page, and DGRO holdings CSV.

SEC Form N-PORT periods are also asynchronous: the latest series reports identified for SCHD, VIG, and DGRO are May 31, April 30, and July 31, respectively. The SCHD report, VIG report, and DGRO report identify those periods; VIG’s filing is for the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund series, which includes both VIG ETF and Admiral share classes. None of the three filings has the same reporting date as the other two. An exact three-way overlap calculation would require all three complete holdings files from one common date. This comparison does not turn company names from different dates into a purported exact overlap count.

The table uses each issuer’s reported weight as a share of fund assets: SCHD as of September 24, VIG as of July 31, and DGRO as of September 23, 2026. The total adds the displayed weights rounded to two decimals, so it can differ slightly from a total calculated from unrounded source values. Because dates differ, use these sums to describe each snapshot on its own, not as a synchronized race between funds.

SCHD’s displayed top ten make up 41.12% of assets in its September 24 snapshot, with each position around 3.8% to 4.8%. A 100-stock index does not give every holding an equal weight. Schwab reports 102 line items that date; its full holdings list includes futures-contract positions as well as stocks, so line-item count is not the number of distinct operating companies.

VIG’s July 31 top ten total 33.34%. Broadcom, Apple, and Microsoft sit alongside JPMorgan, Eli Lilly, Exxon Mobil, Johnson & Johnson, Visa, Walmart, and Mastercard. This mix is consistent with a dividend-growth screen that can include companies across multiple sectors rather than selecting only the highest current yields. Vanguard reported 333 stocks for that date.

DGRO’s September 23 top ten total 27.14% from displayed weights. Apple, Microsoft, Exxon Mobil, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, JPMorgan, Broadcom, Procter & Gamble, Philip Morris, and Home Depot lead the list. A lower top-ten share in this snapshot does not prove lower risk or better diversification; composition, sector exposure, market movement, and the date all matter. iShares reported 389 holdings as of September 24, a different date from the September 23 CSV.

These are issuer-published sector weights on the separate dates shown. A dash means the cited table did not list that sector; it is not a claim that exposure is exactly zero. Use the table to understand the rough shape of each basket, not to calculate a same-day sector comparison.

SCHD’s June 30 sector report is led by health care (20.72%) and consumer staples (20.38%), followed by energy (14.07%). VIG’s July 31 mix has more information technology (25.30%) and financials (22.08%). DGRO’s September 24 breakdown has financials at 19.86%, information technology at 17.96%, health care at 17.39%, and cash and/or derivatives at 0.32%. These differences can affect how the funds respond to sector-specific developments. They do not erase the common risk of owning U.S. equities, and a sector’s dividend record says nothing by itself about its future performance.

The separate lists show examples of shared names. Coca-Cola (KO) appears in SCHD’s September 24 list and DGRO’s September 23 CSV. VIG’s July 31 top ten includes Apple, Microsoft, Exxon Mobil, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan, and Broadcom, which also appear in DGRO’s September 23 top ten. These examples show that the strategies are not three wholly separate collections of companies. They do not give an exact same-day overlap count.

A proper overlap calculation needs the complete holdings on one date, matched by security identifiers. Company names alone can miss different share classes, duplicate securities, changed tickers, or non-stock lines. If you later obtain aligned holdings, a company’s combined basket weight for chosen dollar allocations can be calculated as:

w_combined = (A_SCHD × w_SCHD + A_VIG × w_VIG + A_DGRO × w_DGRO) ÷ (A_SCHD + A_VIG + A_DGRO)

The weights must be from aligned holdings dates. For an account’s current exposure, use current shares and market values instead of old fund weights, and include purchases, sales, and reinvested distributions. The formula explains the calculation; it does not estimate a three-way overlap from the asynchronous snapshots above.

The official pages list expense ratios of 0.060% for SCHD (September 10 data), 0.04% for VIG (May 28 data), and 0.08% for DGRO under its current prospectus. If a balance of $10,000 stayed constant for a full year, those rates correspond to about $6, $4, and $8 in annual fund expenses. This is arithmetic for comparison, not a bill estimate: expenses accrue through the fund, and trading costs, bid-ask spreads, taxes, and account fees are separate. Check current Schwab, Vanguard, and iShares pages before relying on a fee figure.

Each fund’s published distribution history is quarterly, but the amount and future schedule are not guaranteed. Portfolio companies can cut or stop dividends, and a fund’s distributions depend on income received, expenses, cash, and other fund activity. Dividend yield is not total return. Yield can rise when a share price falls; total return reflects both price changes and distributions, along with costs, taxes, and reinvestment choices. A screen for dividend history does not guarantee continued payments or a positive investment return.

Start with the rule that matches the question you care about: current-income selection and fundamental ranking for SCHD, long dividend-growth history for VIG, or a growth-plus-forward-earnings and payout screen for DGRO. Then inspect the fund’s actual holdings, top positions, and sector weights with their as-of dates attached. Count repeated company exposure across funds in your own account instead of treating each ticker as a new source of diversification. Finally, compare current expenses and distribution records without assuming that a higher yield or longer history predicts higher total return. The index rules explain what each basket is designed to include; they cannot promise how those holdings will perform next.