Vanguard Materials ETF (VAW) Valuation
VAW valuation today
Holdings combined · company data as of Oct 26, 2026- P/E (TTM)
- 34.4 trailing earnings
- Forward P/E
- 15.6 analyst estimates
- Price / sales
- 1.90
- Price / book
- 3.10
- EV / EBITDA
- 13.4
- Earnings yield
- 2.91% inverse of P/E
- Dividend yield
- 1.69% of the holdings
- Return on equity
- 9.0% combined
- Net margin
- 5.5% combined
- Beta
- 0.94 weighted, vs S&P 500
VAW valuation vs other stock ETFs
| ETF | P/E | Fwd P/E | P/S | P/B | Div. yield | ROE | Net margin | Loss-makers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VAW | 34.4 | 15.6 | 1.90 | 3.10 | 1.69% | 9.0% | 5.5% | 12.4% |
| SPY | 25.9 | 19.9 | 3.67 | 5.47 | 1.08% | 21.1% | 14.2% | 1.9% |
| QQQ | 34.2 | 23.4 | 5.93 | 9.27 | 0.58% | 27.1% | 17.4% | 6.9% |
| DIA | 20.9 | 18.4 | 3.16 | 5.52 | 1.55% | 26.4% | 15.1% | 0.0% |
| VTI | 28.2 | 19.4 | 3.31 | 5.00 | 1.07% | 17.7% | 11.8% | 4.6% |
| IWM | n/m | 13.9 | 1.25 | 2.03 | 1.38% | −1.7% | −1.0% | 28.1% |
Same method for every fund. n/m = not meaningful (combined trailing earnings below zero or close to it). Loss-makers = weight of holdings with negative trailing earnings.
VAW valuation by sector
| Sector | Weight | P/E | Fwd P/E | P/S | P/B | Div. yield | ROE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Materials | 89.7% | 32.5 | 16.1 | 2.22 | 3.34 | 1.50% | 10.3% |
| Consumer Cyclical | 9.2% | 72.6 | 12.5 | 0.88 | 1.97 | 3.51% | 2.7% |
| Industrials | 0.6% | 36.4 | 8.9 | 0.68 | 1.58 | 1.31% | 4.3% |
| Healthcare | 0.5% | 22.5 | 19.8 | 2.01 | 3.02 | 1.54% | 13.4% |
| Energy | 0.0% | 24.8 | 23.6 | 2.97 | 8.53 | 0.00% | 34.4% |
| Consumer Defensive | 0.0% | n/m | 13.7 | 0.12 | 0.40 | 0.00% | −11.2% |
VAW earnings yield vs bond yields
Earnings yield = earnings ÷ price (1 ÷ P/E). The gap to bond yields is a rough gauge of the extra return stocks are priced to deliver.
How VAW weight splits by P/E
Share of the covered weight in companies with a trailing P/E in each range.
VAW largest holdings: valuation
| Symbol | Company | Weight | P/E | Fwd P/E | P/S | Div. yield | Share of earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIN | Linde plc | 15.80% | 32.2 | 23.6 | 6.5 | 1.28% | 17.86% |
| NEM | Newmont Corporation | 8.45% | 15.0 | 11.6 | 4.8 | 0.88% | 20.53% |
| FCX | Freeport-McMoRan Inc. | 6.96% | 34.3 | 18.1 | 3.9 | 0.86% | 7.39% |
| ECL | Ecolab Inc. | 5.07% | 38.8 | 29.7 | 4.8 | 1.01% | 4.75% |
| SHW | The Sherwin-Williams Company | 4.98% | 30.9 | 23.8 | 3.3 | 0.95% | 5.87% |
| APD | Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. | 4.08% | — | 19.9 | 5.3 | 2.42% | −0.10% |
| CRH | CRH PLC | 3.99% | — | — | — | — | — |
| CTVA | Corteva, Inc. | 3.76% | 8.0 | 19.1 | 1.7 | 5.59% | 17.20% |
| NUE | Nucor Corporation | 3.68% | 20.4 | 11.4 | 1.6 | 0.87% | 6.54% |
| STLD | Steel Dynamics, Inc. | 2.16% | 21.8 | 10.0 | 1.7 | 0.88% | 3.61% |
| VMC | Vulcan Materials Company | 2.15% | 30.4 | 22.4 | 4.1 | 0.81% | 2.57% |
| MLM | Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. | 1.97% | 32.6 | 20.6 | 5.3 | 0.67% | 2.19% |
| PPG | PPG Industries, Inc. | 1.61% | 15.4 | 12.4 | 1.5 | 2.76% | 3.80% |
| SW | Smurfit WestRock plc | 1.55% | 43.3 | 13.8 | 0.7 | 4.40% | 1.30% |
| IFF | International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. | 1.48% | 89.8 | 17.7 | 2.1 | 1.76% | 0.60% |
| DOW | Dow Inc. | 1.43% | — | 14.1 | 0.5 | 4.68% | −3.19% |
| RGLD | Royal Gold, Inc. | 1.40% | 26.4 | 24.2 | 13.1 | 0.80% | 1.92% |
| RS | Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. | 1.37% | 23.9 | 16.4 | 1.3 | 1.22% | 2.08% |
| PKG | Packaging Corporation of America | 1.35% | 30.7 | 18.7 | 2.2 | 2.54% | 1.60% |
| AMCR | Amcor plc | 1.31% | 18.4 | 10.6 | 0.9 | 5.93% | 2.59% |
| CDE | Coeur Mining, Inc. | 1.26% | 13.2 | 8.7 | 5.0 | 0.26% | 3.46% |
| AMRZ | Amerize Inc. | 1.25% | — | — | — | — | — |
| IP | International Paper Company | 1.20% | — | 11.7 | 0.7 | 5.43% | −6.61% |
| CF | CF Industries Holdings, Inc. | 1.19% | 9.0 | 12.2 | 2.4 | 1.99% | 4.81% |
| LYB | LyondellBasell Industries N.V. | 1.03% | — | 9.1 | 0.7 | 4.31% | −0.49% |
Share of earnings = the holding's part of the fund's combined trailing profit. Green: earns more than its weight; orange: less. Symbol links go to each company's key metrics.
About VAW valuation
Adding up its 106 holdings with company data, VAW trades at 34.4 times trailing earnings and 15.6 times analysts' forward estimates, with a price-to-book ratio of 3.10 and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Its earnings yield of 2.91% is 2.42 percentage points below the 5.33% yield to maturity of the U.S. bond market (AGG).
The ten largest holdings are 58.9% of the fund and earn 86.2% of its combined profit. By sector, Consumer Cyclical is the most expensive at 72.6 times earnings and Healthcare the cheapest at 22.5. Companies that lost money over the past year are 12.4% of the covered weight.
How these figures are calculated. Each ratio treats the fund as one company: the earnings, sales and book value of every holding are added up in proportion to its weight and divided into the fund's price. In practice that is a weighted harmonic mean, so a single stock with a very high P/E cannot distort the result, and loss-making companies reduce the fund's earnings instead of being dropped. Covers 94.6% of the fund's weight (U.S.-listed stocks with company data); company figures as of October 26, 2026.
Related: VAW chart, VAW performance, VAW holdings, VAW dividends.
VAW valuation FAQ
What is the P/E ratio of VAW?
Based on its holdings, VAW has a trailing P/E of 34.4 and a forward P/E of 15.6 (earnings of all covered holdings combined in proportion to their weights, as of October 26, 2026).
What is the earnings yield of VAW?
The trailing earnings yield is 2.91% (1 ÷ P/E) and the forward earnings yield 6.39%. For comparison the U.S. bond market (AGG) yields 5.33% to maturity and T-bills about 3.91%.
Is VAW more expensive than the S&P 500?
VAW trades at 34.4 times trailing earnings versus 25.9 for the S&P 500 (SPY); on forward estimates the figures are 15.6 and 19.9.
What is the price-to-book ratio of VAW?
The holdings of VAW trade at 3.10 times book value, with a combined return on equity of 9.0%.
Which sector in VAW has the highest P/E?
Consumer Cyclical has the highest P/E at 72.6 and Healthcare the lowest at 22.5.