What Is NOBL? ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF

NOBL is the ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF, tracking the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index at a 0.35% expense ratio. It holds only S&P 500 companies that have raised their dividend for at least 25 consecutive years, weighting each roughly equally, giving exposure to a group defined by decades of dividend discipline.

ProShares launched NOBL in October 2013 and it has grown to roughly $12 billion in assets. It is the flagship fund for the dividend-aristocrats strategy, turning a long-followed quality screen into a single, tradable ETF.

Approximate weights as of mid-2026; refresh quarterly from ProShares's fund page. Each ticker links to its individual stock guide in Walnut.

NOBL holds around 65 to 70 companies, equal-weighted, so the portfolio is deliberately balanced rather than top-heavy. Leading positions include West Pharmaceutical, Franklin Resources, Caterpillar, AbbVie, J.M. Smucker, Stanley Black & Decker, T. Rowe Price, Hormel, Essex Property Trust, and ADP, each roughly 1.6% to 1.8% of assets.

By sector the fund tilts toward industrials, consumer staples, materials, and financials, the kind of steady, established businesses that can sustain 25-plus years of dividend increases. It is naturally light on the fast-growing technology names that pay little or no dividend.

NOBL differs from both a broad S&P 500 fund and a high-yield dividend fund. Against the S&P 500, NOBL drops any company without a 25-year growth streak and equal-weights the rest, so it skews toward quality and away from mega-cap concentration. Against high-yield funds, it prioritizes the durability and growth of dividends over the size of the current yield.

The trade-offs are clear. NOBL's 0.35% fee is higher than plain index funds, and its roughly 2% yield trails many high-yield ETFs. In exchange it offers a screen for businesses with exceptional dividend track records and an equal-weight structure that spreads risk. For income seekers chasing the highest payout, a high-yield fund may fit better; for those who prize dividend consistency and quality, NOBL is purpose-built. Neither is objectively best.

NOBL's returns reflect its equal-weighted, quality-tilted portfolio. It has tended to hold up relatively well in defensive and volatile markets, where steady dividend payers are favored, and to lag broad indexes during runs led by mega-cap growth stocks it largely excludes.

As a rules-based fund, NOBL's outlook is tied to the dividend-aristocrat group as a whole. Its equal weighting means smaller members influence returns as much as larger ones, and its screen keeps the roster focused on companies with the balance-sheet strength to keep raising payouts through cycles.

NOBL suits investors who want a quality and dividend-growth tilt and are comfortable with a modestly higher fee and a yield that reflects consistency rather than maximum income. It commonly plays a defensive or diversifying role alongside a broad-market core.

Whether NOBL fits depends on your income needs, time horizon, and risk tolerance. Walnut is not an investment adviser, and this is not a recommendation to buy NOBL. It is a description of the fund, its dividend-growth screen, and the role it tends to play.

NOBL trades on every major US brokerage, including Robinhood, Fidelity, Schwab, and Public, usually commission-free and often with fractional shares so you can invest a set dollar amount. It is liquid enough for most investors to trade at tight spreads.

To hold NOBL alongside a stated thesis, such as a dividend-growth basket, connect your broker to Walnut and track it inside a themed basket. Walnut mirrors your real positions and shows how they map to your targets, while trade execution stays at your broker.

ETFs are passive bundles; thematic baskets in Walnut let you concentrate within them. If you hold NOBL as a core position, these are the themes you might layer on as satellites.

The bottom line on NOBL: an equal-weighted portfolio of S&P 500 companies with 25-plus years of rising dividends. At 0.35% it is pricier than plain-vanilla index funds, and its yield of roughly 2% is modest, because the strategy targets dividend durability and growth, not maximum income. It plays a defensive, quality-tilt role in a portfolio.

Whether NOBL is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is NOBL a buy?

NOBL yields ~2.0% as of mid-2026, paid by passing through the dividends of its underlying holdings. For the payout schedule, history, and how the distributions are taxed, see NOBL dividend: yield and schedule.