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VYM Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF — distribution yield, history & ex-dividend dates

NYSE Arca· Quarterly distribution· ETF

Scores describe this security's published financial data on a 0–100 scale using the formulas on our methodology pages. They are the same for every reader, are not a probability or a forecast, and are not a recommendation. Past dividend growth does not guarantee future increases. Report a data error.

VYM has raised its annual dividend in 15 separate years since December 2006, which ranks 737 among the 2,430 payers with a comparable record in our dataset. No year in that span saw the annual total fall by more than a fifth.

Of the 878 companies we track with 10 to 24 years of increases, 661 — 75 per cent — also have at least one year in which the dividend fell by more than 20 per cent. Across every company with twenty years of comparable history, only 277 of 1078 (26 per cent) have never cut. A long record of increases is common; a record with no cut anywhere in it is not.

Measured from annual totals using split-adjusted amounts, comparing only consecutive years with the same number of payments — a stock split and a payment shifting across a year boundary both look like cuts otherwise. The current year is excluded as incomplete. How we measure a cut, and what the corrections change. Figures are for information only, not a view on any security.

VYM's distribution yield fell from 2.18% to 2.15% over the past ~90 days (-0.03 pp). Of that move, +0.00 pp came from changes in the distribution rate and -0.03 pp from the share price ($162.79 on Aug 03, 2026 → $164.82 on Oct 30, 2026). A yield that rises because the price fell is not an improvement in the payout itself.

Across 272 daily observations over the past 13 months (through Oct 23, 2026), VYM's current yield is higher than approximately 6% of them. Our stored price history for VYM covers the past 13 months; 3- and 5-year averages are not yet computable from it and are deliberately not shown.

Data updated Oct 30, 2026. This research page is generated from Dividendly's structured market and dividend dataset using the approach described on our methodology and data sources pages. Data is automatically validated using defined rules and may also be periodically reviewed. Research only, not investment advice. Spotted a data error? Report it.