The free dividend tracker to help you grow your wealth. Link your brokerage accounts and MerryDiv automatically syncs your holdings and dividends.
Data last updated: Jul 18, 2026
Snapshot (as of Jul 18, 2026): Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU) pays a $5.17 annual dividend ($1.30 quarterly), yielding 2.65% at $195.22/share. Next ex-dividend date 2026-06-24. Source: Yahoo Finance, aggregated by MerryDiv.
Dividend Yield: 2.65%
Annual Dividend: $5.17 per share
Ex-Dividend Date: 2026-06-24
Dividend Frequency: quarterly
Sector: Financial Services
Years of Dividend History: 23
The Vanguard Utilities ETF dividend comes from a passively managed fund that tracks a benchmark index of U.S. utilities companies, holding shares in electricity distributors, water utilities, natural gas providers, and independent power producers. VPU currently pays a 2.59% yield, with a trailing annual dividend rate of $5.1678 per share paid quarterly. The next ex-dividend date is June 24, 2026, with the last quarterly payment of $1.3009 per share. A beta of 0.5 means VPU moves at roughly half the volatility of the broader market, which suits income investors who prioritize steadiness over aggressive growth.
Vanguard Utilities ETF pays out dividends as a pass-through of income from its underlying holdings, making a traditional payout ratio not applicable (fund/ETF). Vanguard Utilities ETF dividend safety rests on the nature of its portfolio: companies distributing electricity, water, and natural gas operate in sectors with recurring, demand-driven revenue that tends to support regular income generation. The primary pressure on the dividend is the performance of those underlying holdings, since any broad deterioration in utility sector income flows directly through to what VPU distributes.
Vanguard Utilities ETF dividend history shows a CAGR of 4.7% per year from 2011 to 2025. Per-share payments grew from $2.6590 to $5.0438 over that window (2026 data is a partial year and excluded from this calculation). The largest annual increase in the window was 12.7% in 2012, while 2021 saw a year-over-year dip from $4.3500 to $4.2240, the only decline in the available history. Four consecutive years of increases run through the most recent complete data.
| Period | CAGR | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-Year | +3.3% | $4.58 (2022) | $5.04 (2025) |
| 5-Year | +3.0% | $4.35 (2020) | $5.04 (2025) |
| 10-Year | +4.0% | $3.41 (2015) | $5.04 (2025) |
VPU fits dividend investors who want exposure to utility sector income without picking individual stocks. The yield sits at moderate (2–4%), currently at 2.59%, which runs above its 5-year average of 2.36%, meaning today's entry point offers slightly more income than the historical norm. Growth has been real but unhurried at 4.7% per year over 14 years, and the fund carries only four consecutive years of increases, so it does not qualify as a Dividend Aristocrat. What an investor gets here is broad utility sector income with low price volatility (beta of 0.5). The trade-off is that growth is slow and the dividend record includes one historical dip.
| Payment Date | Amount per Share |
|---|---|
| 2026-06-24 | $1.3009 |
| 2026-03-24 | $1.2769 |
| 2025-12-17 | $1.3633 |
| 2025-09-24 | $1.2267 |
| 2025-06-26 | $1.2263 |
| 2025-03-25 | $1.2275 |
| 2024-12-18 | $1.2754 |
| 2024-09-27 | $1.3117 |
| 2024-06-28 | $1.2449 |
| 2024-03-22 | $1.0961 |
| Year | Total Dividends |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $2.5778 |
| 2025 | $5.0438 |
| 2024 | $4.9281 |
| 2023 | $4.7793 |
| 2022 | $4.5770 |
Project income from VPU with the VPU dividend calculator or track your full portfolio with the dividend tracker.