Is the Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF (VHY) unit price a buy for passive income?

The Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF (ASX: VHY) is a leading exchange-traded fund (ETF) which helps investors own the higher-yielding ASX shares.

Vanguard states:

The ETF provides low-cost exposure to companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that have higher forecast dividends relative to other ASX-listed companies. Security diversification is achieved by restricting the proportion invested in any one industry to 40% of the total ETF and 10% in any one company. Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts (A-REITS) are excluded from the index.  

The ASX is a very useful stock market to look for dividend opportunities because of the willingness of plenty of businesses to provide a higher dividend payout ratio compared to other international markets, such as the US.

Before getting to the attractiveness of the VHY ETF unit price, let's take a look at how large the dividend yield actually is.

How big is the VHY ETF dividend yield?

Vanguard owns a portfolio of more than 70 names. These businesses have been chosen because they are forecast (according to Factset) to provide good upcoming dividends for investors.

At the end of June, the ten largest positions in the portfolio included Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB), Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC), Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS), Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS), ANZ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: ANZ), Transurban Group (ASX: TCL), Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) and Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO).

Each month, Vanguard tells investors what the forecast dividend yield is.

At the end of June 2025, the VHY ETF has a forecast partially franked dividend yield of 4.3% and a grossed-up dividend yield of 5.7%, including franking credits.

Over the past ten years, the Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF has delivered an average distribution return of 6.5%. Remember, ETF distributions can include crystallised capital gains on top of the dividend income received from its holdings.

Is the Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF (VHY) unit price a buy?

It may be hard to come to a conclusion about whether every single business in the portfolio is a buy or not. But, we can still decide on whether the overall valuation is attractive.

At the end of June, the VHY ETF had a price/earnings (P/E) ratio of 16.5x, which seems quite high for a fund full of slow-growing ASX bank shares and ASX mining shares.

It's a solid option for dividend income, but I wouldn't say the valuation is appealing for the investment to deliver strong total returns. I'd rather pick and choose individual ASX dividend shares.

The post Is the Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF (VHY) unit price a buy for passive income? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group and Transurban Group. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Macquarie Group and Telstra Group. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended BHP Group and Vanguard Australian Shares High Yield ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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