Vanguard Consumer Staples Etf: A Detailed Look for Value-Focused Investors
The Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF, ticker VDC, tracks the MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Staples 25/50 Index and holds approximately 104 companies selling essential goods in the United States. The vanguard consumer staples etf is the broadest fund in its category, covering everything from Procter and Gamble (PG) at 14% of the fund to smaller names like Spectrum Brands and Prestige Consumer Healthcare that barely appear in the concentrated SPDR XLP. With a 0.10% expense ratio and over $6 billion in assets, VDC is the go-to vehicle for investors who want more complete sector coverage than XLP provides while still paying near-zero to own it.
Key Takeaways
- VDC holds 104 consumer staples companies versus XLP's 37, giving mid-cap names like Clorox, Church and Dwight, and Lamb Weston meaningful representation.
- The fund's 0.10% expense ratio is among the lowest in the category and adds meaningful value over a 10 to 20 year holding period relative to higher-cost alternatives.
- Procter and Gamble is the top holding at approximately 14.2% of the fund, followed by Costco, Walmart, and Coca-Cola, so the top four names still drive a large share of daily performance.
- VDC's trailing P/E sits near 22.8 and forward P/E near 19.4, priced in line with the sector's historical range of fair value.
- EV/Revenue across the fund's major holdings averages around 3.2x, which signals modest premium to underlying sales with room for further compression if interest rates stay elevated.
- ValueMarkers' screener covers every VDC holding individually so you can identify which names inside the fund pass your specific value and quality filters.
What VDC Holds and Why the Breadth Matters
XLP's 37 holdings mean that a company representing 2% of the S&P 500 consumer staples sector but with a market cap below $5 billion simply does not appear. VDC's 104 holdings include those mid-cap operators. That breadth has two practical effects on performance.
First, VDC tends to outperform XLP during periods when mid-cap staples companies outperform their megacap peers, which typically happens early in economic recovery cycles when smaller operators see faster volume recovery than the established giants. Second, VDC's broader holdings mean individual company problems have less impact on the fund. A 30% single-stock decline in a company that is 2% of VDC shaves 0.6 points off the fund. The same event in XLP, where the affected company might be 4%, costs 1.2 points.
The 104-name composition also means VDC covers tobacco companies (Altria at approximately 3.5% weight, Philip Morris International at 2.8%), which XLP also includes. Investors with tobacco exclusion requirements need to note this before adding VDC to an ESG-screened portfolio.
The Top 10 Holdings: What They Tell You About VDC's Character
The top 10 holdings account for roughly 68% of VDC's total weight. This is a meaningful concentration for a 104-name fund and means you are not getting equal exposure to the full universe.
| Holding | Ticker | Approximate Weight | Trailing P/E | Dividend Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Procter and Gamble | PG | 14.2% | 24.1 | 2.4% |
| Costco Wholesale | COST | 11.8% | 51.2 | 0.6% |
| Walmart | WMT | 11.3% | 37.4 | 1.0% |
| Coca-Cola | KO | 8.4% | 24.0 | 3.0% |
| Philip Morris International | PM | 5.1% | 19.2 | 4.8% |
| Altria Group | MO | 3.5% | 9.4 | 7.8% |
| Mondelez International | MDLZ | 3.3% | 20.1 | 2.7% |
| Colgate-Palmolive | CL | 3.1% | 26.8 | 2.2% |
| PepsiCo | PEP | 3.0% | 21.4 | 3.4% |
| Estee Lauder | EL | 2.2% | 42.0 | 2.1% |
Costco's P/E of 51.2 is the standout. The market is paying a significant premium for Costco's membership model, which generates predictable fee income on top of thin-margin retail sales. That premium is justified if Costco continues growing its membership base internationally, but it means VDC carries a growth-premium holding within what is supposed to be a defensive, value-oriented fund.
The P/E Picture Across the Fund
The P/E ratio for VDC as a whole sits near 22.8 trailing, which is in line with the historical sector range but above the S&P 500 median. That premium reflects two things: the quality of the underlying businesses and the scarcity of earnings predictability in a market where most sectors have more variable revenue.
Altria (MO) at a P/E of 9.4 and a yield of 7.8% is an outlier at the other end. The market prices Altria at a deep discount because of secular volume decline in cigarettes and uncertainty around its reduced-risk product investments. Altria's weight in VDC is large enough that it pulls the fund's blended P/E down meaningfully. Without Altria and Philip Morris, VDC's trailing P/E would be closer to 26.
This matters for how you interpret the fund's headline P/E. When you screen VDC's holdings through our screener, you can separate the Altria-type value propositions from the Costco-type growth propositions and decide whether each one fits your own criteria for inclusion.
Forward P/E: What the Market Expects From VDC's Holdings
Forward P/E for VDC sits near 19.4, which implies analysts expect earnings growth of roughly 8 to 10% from the current trailing earnings base. That expectation is driven primarily by the top holdings: Procter and Gamble is guiding for 3 to 5% core organic sales growth, Coca-Cola for 4 to 6%, and Walmart for 3 to 4% consolidated operating income growth.
The compression from trailing to forward P/E of approximately 3.4 points is normal for this sector and consistent with the 10-year average. When that gap is below 2 points, either earnings growth expectations have been cut or the trailing P/E has already come down. Both scenarios are worth investigating at the individual holding level rather than relying on the blended fund number.
Apple's P/E of 28.3 and MSFT's of 32.1 illustrate what the market pays for faster growth outside the defensive sector. VDC's 19.4x forward P/E offers a significant discount to tech, which is the point for investors who want income and stability rather than earnings momentum.
EV/Revenue as a Valuation Anchor for VDC
EV/Revenue gives you a top-line valuation check that is less sensitive to margin and depreciation differences across VDC's holdings. The fund's blended EV/Revenue sits around 3.2x, which is consistent with the historical range for high-quality branded consumer goods companies.
The individual spread within VDC is wide. Costco at around 1.1x EV/Revenue is cheap on this metric because its thin margins mean a large revenue base generates modest EBITDA. P&G at 5.2x EV/Revenue is expensive because its 24% operating margins mean the revenue base is worth more on an earnings basis. Neither number is wrong; they reflect different business models within the same sector classification.
A useful cross-check: if EV/Revenue for a consumer staples company is above 6x, the market is pricing in margin expansion, brand reinvestment growth, or both. If the company's actual operating margin trend does not support that, the premium is unsustainable.
VDC Versus XLP: The Practical Comparison
The choice between VDC and XLP comes down to concentration preference and expense ratio sensitivity over long holding periods.
| Feature | VDC | XLP |
|---|---|---|
| Expense Ratio | 0.10% | 0.09% |
| Holdings | 104 | 37 |
| AUM | $6.8B | $15.4B |
| Trailing P/E | 22.8 | 23.4 |
| Dividend Yield | 2.5% | 2.7% |
| Top Holding (PG) Weight | 14.2% | 15.8% |
| Mid-Cap Exposure | Higher | Lower |
The expense ratio difference of 0.01% is essentially noise. On a $100,000 investment over 20 years, it is approximately $100 in total. The meaningful differences are the holding count and the resulting mid-cap exposure. If you want the broadest possible consumer staples coverage, VDC wins. If you want higher dividend yield and are comfortable with fewer, larger names, XLP is the more common choice.
Neither fund is wrong. The decision belongs to the investor who knows their own diversification goals and income requirements better than any fund comparison table can determine.
Further reading: SEC EDGAR · FRED Economic Data
Why VDC etf Matters
This section anchors the discussion on VDC etf. The detailed treatment, formula, and worked examples appear in the body of this article above. The points below summarize the most important takeaways for value investors who want to apply VDC etf in real portfolio decisions. ValueMarkers exposes the underlying data on every covered ticker via the screener and stock profile pages, so the concepts in this article translate directly into actionable filters.
Key inputs for VDC etf
See the main discussion of VDC etf in the sections above for the full treatment, including the inputs, the calculation methodology, the typical sector benchmarks, and the most common pitfalls to avoid. The ValueMarkers screener lets value investors filter the full universe of 100,000+ stocks across 73 exchanges using VDC etf alongside the rest of the 120-indicator composite, with sector percentiles and historical trends shown on every stock profile.
Sector benchmarks for VDC etf
See the main discussion of VDC etf in the sections above for the full treatment, including the inputs, the calculation methodology, the typical sector benchmarks, and the most common pitfalls to avoid. The ValueMarkers screener lets value investors filter the full universe of 100,000+ stocks across 73 exchanges using VDC etf alongside the rest of the 120-indicator composite, with sector percentiles and historical trends shown on every stock profile.
Related ValueMarkers Resources
- Pe Ratio — Glossary entry for Pe Ratio
- Forward Pe — Glossary entry for Forward Pe
- Enterprise Value to Revenue (EV/Revenue) — Enterprise Value to Revenue is the metric used to how cheaply a stock trades relative to its fundamentals
- Consumer Staples Etf — related ValueMarkers analysis
- Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund — related ValueMarkers analysis
- Msty Etf Dividend History — related ValueMarkers analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
what percentage of united health group is owned by vanguard
Vanguard is typically among the largest institutional shareholders of UnitedHealth Group (UNH) through its various index funds. Across all Vanguard funds, Vanguard usually holds between 8% and 10% of UNH's outstanding shares. VDC specifically does not hold UNH because UnitedHealth is classified as a healthcare company under GICS, not a consumer staples company. VDC's universe is restricted to the consumer staples sector.
canary capital xrp etf
The Canary Capital XRP ETF is a proposed cryptocurrency fund and has no connection to the Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF. VDC holds physical equities in food, beverage, tobacco, and household products companies. Cryptocurrency ETFs and equity ETFs serve entirely different investment purposes, carry different regulatory frameworks, and target different investor risk profiles.
canary xrp etf approval
The SEC approval process for cryptocurrency ETFs is separate from and unrelated to the approval and operation of equity ETFs like VDC. VDC operates under its own existing approval from the SEC as a registered investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, tracking a rules-based index of consumer staples equities.
is vug considered a growth etf
Yes, VUG is the Vanguard Growth ETF and is distinctly different from VDC. VUG tracks the CRSP US Large Cap Growth Index, concentrating in technology, communication services, and consumer discretionary names. VDC tracks consumer staples, a defensive sector with lower growth but higher income characteristics. The two funds serve opposite ends of the risk-return spectrum within Vanguard's equity ETF lineup.
is voo an etf
Yes, VOO is the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. It holds all 500 constituents of the S&P 500, including the consumer staples sector at approximately 6 to 7% of total weight. VOO gives you a small, passive allocation to consumer staples as part of a broad market exposure. VDC concentrates your allocation specifically in that sector. Investors who want more defensive exposure than VOO provides can add VDC alongside it to increase their staples weight without abandoning broad market diversification.
what is the vanguard s
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) and the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) are the two most referenced "Vanguard S" funds. VOO tracks the 500 largest U.S. companies by market cap. VTI extends coverage to mid and small caps, holding over 3,500 U.S. stocks. Neither is the same as VDC. VDC is a sector-specific fund, while VOO and VTI are broad market funds. All three are available through Vanguard at expense ratios between 0.03% and 0.10%.
Screen the top 20 holdings of VDC individually in our screener to find which names inside the fund pass your own criteria before deciding whether the ETF as a whole fits your portfolio.
Written by Javier Sanz, Founder of ValueMarkers. Last updated April 2026.
Ready to find your next value investment?
ValueMarkers tracks 120+ fundamental indicators across 100,000+ stocks on 73 global exchanges. Run the methodology above in seconds with our stock screener, or see today's top-ranked names on the leaderboard.
Related tools: DCF Calculator · Methodology · Compare ValueMarkers
Disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any security. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Related reading
- Vanguard Consumer Staples Fund — striking-distance KW