VTIVanguard Total Stock Market ETFIndex ETF
Yield
1.06%
$3.95 TTM at $373.01
Dividend
$3.95 TTM
Quarterly; most recent $0.9555, Sep 28, 2026
Payout ratio
25.6%
Per StockAnalysis
Pays
Quarterly
Expense ratio 0.03%
House verdict
Covered, diversified — but thin income. The entire U.S. stock market's dividends, passed through at a 0.03% expense ratio, with distributions up 5.37% year over year. The payout is covered many times over and it genuinely compounds — but 1.06% is a core holding's yield, not an income engine.
Key risk: The yield is the market's yield — it will not rescue an income shortfall, and a broad-market drawdown cuts price and distributions together.
Changes if: Distribution growth stalls for a full year or the expense ratio rises.
- ✓Covered by the market's earnings 25.6% payout per StockAnalysis; distributions are companies' dividends, not return of capital.
- !Thin yield 1.06% at the Oct 23 close — a core holding, not an income engine.
- ✓Compounding Distributions up 5.37% year over year, paid quarterly.
What this grade doesn't say: It screens the dividend only — covered, real, compounding. It says nothing about valuation or price: a well-covered payer can still be overpriced, and its price can still fall.