“The weighted average performance of stocks within WTEMME domiciled in Qatar and the UAE were up over 29% and 99%, respectively. Yet stocks within Qatar have a dividend yield of 4.36% and an estimated price-to-earnings ratio of 12.2x, while UAE stocks had a dividend yield of 2.8% and an estimated price-to-earnings ratio of 12.9x,” said Schwartz.
GULF has traded slightly lower this week following news that Russell Investments will demote Egypt to frontier status from emerging markets classification. North Africa’s largest economy is GULF’s fourth-largest country allocation at a weight of 11.4%. [Watch Egypt ETF on Russell Market Demotion]
Still, there are catalysts for further upside in GULF and some Middle East equities, including low correlations to traditional emerging markets and robust dividend growth.
Schwartz points out that GULF’s three largest holdings, which combine for almost 22% of the ETF’s weight, announced dividend increases averaging 22% last year.
WisdomTree Middle East Dividend Fund
