XLV vs VHT Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
XLV and VHT both target health care sector exposure but take different paths to get there — XLV via the Health Care Select Sector Index, and VHT via the MSCI US Investable Market Health Care Index. The practical differences come down to issuer, cost structure, and the specific index rules each fund follows, since both are pursuing a similar investment outcome.
XLV vs VHT is largely a question of which issuer and index methodology you trust more for health care sector exposure — the underlying investment case is similar, so cost, liquidity, and tracking precision tend to be the deciding factors.
XLV holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. VHT has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+25.23% vs +24.63% for XLV).
- want concentrated large-cap health care exposure with deep liquidity
- prefer State Street's approach and fund lineup
- value deepest liquidity of any health care sector ETF
- are comfortable with exposed to drug-pricing and regulatory policy risk
- want broader health care exposure including more biotech names
- prefer Vanguard's approach and fund lineup
- value lower expense ratio than the SPDR health care fund
- are comfortable with thinner liquidity than XLV
| Metric | XLV | VHT |
|---|---|---|
| ETF scorei | 74.0 | 76.0 |
| Latest closei | $168.39 | $315.85 |
| 1M returni | -4.15% | -4.14% |
| 6M returni | +16.86% | +18.25% |
| 1Y returni | +24.63% | +25.23% |
The ETF score weights long-term returns and risk-adjusted performance most heavily, but still rewards low expense ratios, larger fund size, and broader diversification — so it can favor low-cost, broad, mega-cap funds over smaller thematic or actively-managed funds even when the latter have delivered stronger returns.
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | XLV | VHT |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $12.68K (+26.8%) started 2025-09-18 | $12.74K (+27.4%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $15.09K (+50.9%) started 2021-09-20 | $14.36K (+43.6%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $32.96K (+229.6%) started 2016-09-19 | $32.32K (+223.2%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | XLV | VHT |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratioi | 0.08% | 0.09% |
| Total assets (AUM)i | $43.91B | $22.04B |
| Dividend yieldi | 1.49% | 1.48% |
| Trailing P/Ei | 30.09 | 29.62 |
| Betai | 0.55 | 0.59 |
| 52-week change | 24.63% | 25.23% |
| Metric | XLV | VHT |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y returni | +24.63% | +25.23% |
| 6M returni | +16.86% | +18.25% |
| 1M returni | -4.15% | -4.14% |
| 1Y Sharpe ratio | 1.17 | 1.24 |
| Betai | 0.55 | 0.59 |
| Dividend yieldi | 1.49% | 1.48% |
| 5Y CAGR | +6.78% | +5.88% |
Over the past year, XLV and VHT have moved strongly in the same direction (correlation of 0.99), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | XLV | VHT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | +24.63% | +25.23% |
| CAGRi | +24.65% | +25.25% | |
| Volatilityi | 16.13% | 15.51% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 1.17 | 1.24 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.95 | 2.06 | |
| Max drawdowni | 10.47% | 10.40% | |
| Current drawdowni | 4.15% | 4.14% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 3.29% | 3.20% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 4.46% | 4.28% | |
| Max daily dropi | 2.52% | 2.19% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 4.68% | 4.52% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +38.74% | +33.02% |
| CAGRi | +6.78% | +5.88% | |
| Volatilityi | 15.19% | 15.39% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.21 | 0.16 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.30 | 0.22 | |
| Max drawdowni | 17.11% | 17.71% | |
| Current drawdowni | 4.15% | 4.14% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 5.82% | 6.40% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.08% | 7.64% | |
| Max daily dropi | 5.48% | 5.47% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 8.36% | 8.55% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +176.00% | +175.62% |
| CAGRi | +10.69% | +10.68% | |
| Volatilityi | 16.73% | 17.07% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.42 | 0.42 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.60 | 0.59 | |
| Max drawdowni | 28.40% | 28.85% | |
| Current drawdowni | 4.15% | 4.14% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 4.65% | 4.93% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 6.12% | 6.45% | |
| Max daily dropi | 9.86% | 11.05% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 13.20% | 14.40% |
| Category | XLV | VHT |
|---|---|---|
| Fund name | State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF | Vanguard Health Care Index Fund ETF Shares |
| Type | ETF | ETF |
| Expense ratioi | 0.08% | 0.09% |
| Total assets (AUM)i | $43.91B | $22.04B |
| Dividend yieldi | 1.49% | 1.48% |
- Deepest liquidity of any health care sector ETF
- Diversified across pharma, insurers, and device makers
- Defensive sector that often holds up in downturns
- Lower expense ratio than the SPDR health care fund
- More biotech and small-cap health exposure than XLV
- Vanguard's indexing efficiency
- Exposed to drug-pricing and regulatory policy risk
- Patent-cliff and FDA-decision headline risk for individual holdings
- Concentration in a handful of pharma giants
- Thinner liquidity than XLV
- More biotech exposure adds binary clinical-trial risk
- Regulatory and drug-pricing risk applies sector-wide
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