The Best Active Value Stock ETFs to Buy

After lagging the broad US stock market for much of last year, value stocks have enjoyed a revival lately. Growing concerns about artificial-intelligence-related stocks have driven investors away from growth stocks and toward value stocks instead.

But recent outperformance isn’t the reason to consider value stocks today; value stocks, as a group, provide more sector diversification than growth stocks. “One thing that can be said with certainty is that the growth side of the market looks far more concentrated than the value side,” observes Morningstar indexes strategist Dan Lefkovitz. He notes that about half of growth side of the market consists of technology stocks, while the value side of the market is more diffuse, with consumer defensive, healthcare, financial services, industrials, energy, and utilities sectors well represented.

Investors who own core stock mutual funds or exchange-traded funds—especially those tracking a broad market index such as the S&P 500 or Wilshire 5000 Index—already have exposure to value stocks. They likely don’t need to add more value stocks to their portfolios.

However, some investors may think value stocks are the place to be, and they’d like to tilt their portfolios toward that style. For such investors, there are many fine value stock ETFs to choose from.

What Are Value Stock ETFs?

Value stock ETFs invest primarily in US companies that are less expensive or growing more slowly than the market. The definition of value is based on low valuations (low price ratios and high dividend yields) and slow growth (low growth rates for earnings, sales, book value, and cash flow). This group covers a range of market caps, encompassing the large-value, mid-cap value, and small-value Morningstar Categories. Some value stock ETFs are passive investments, meaning they track indexes and do not have managers actively making stock-picking decisions. Active value stock ETFs, meanwhile, are run by managers who actively pick stocks.

This list focuses on the latter: Top value stock ETFs run by active managers.

The 18 Best Active Value Stock ETFs to Buy in 2026

To find the best active value stock ETFs to buy, we screened for those earning a

of Bronze, Silver, or Gold with 100% analyst coverage. All the ETFs on the list fall into the small-value, mid-value, or large-value and have at least $100 million in assets. All data is as of March 24, 2026.

1. American Century Focused Large Cap Value ETF FLV
2. Avantis US Large Cap Value ETF AVLV
3. Avantis US Small Cap Equity ETF AVSC
4. Avantis US Small Cap Value ETF AVUV
5. BNY Mellon Dynamic Value ETF BKDV
6. Brandes US Value ETF BUSA
7. Capital Group Conservative Equity ETF CGCV
8. Capital Group Dividend Value ETF CGDV
9. Dimensional US Large Cap Value ETF DFLV
10. Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF DFSV
11. Dimensional US Targeted Value ETF DFAT
12. JPMorgan Active Value ETF JAVA
13. MFS Active Value ETF MFSV
14. Oakmark US Large Cap ETF OAKM
15. Putnam Focused Large Cap Value ETF PVAL
16. T. Rowe Price Equity Income ETF TEQI
17. Vanguard US Value Factor ETF VFVA
18. WisdomTree US Value Fund WTV

Morningstar expects the highly rated value stock ETFs on this list to outperform their peers over a full market cycle. But even though all the ETFs on our list invest in value stocks, they practice different strategies and therefore behave differently from each other. Investors need to do some homework to understand exactly what a particular ETF invests in before buying.

Here’s a quick look at each of the best active value stock ETFs. Be sure to review an ETF’s complete report for more details.

American Century Focused Large Cap Value ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Large Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Bronze

American Century Focused Large Cap Value’s risk-aware process makes it a decent large-value offering at the right price. Changes in Morningstar Medalist Ratings here may be driven by an enhancement in how we assess alpha opportunity for funds, rather than changes to pillar ratings.

Brian Woglom plies a sturdy approach. At the helm since January 2016, Woglom has led the fund through three process tweaks, the latest being a move to a more concentrated portfolio in December 2020 (the strategy’s separately managed account has employed this strategy since 2017). Woglom targets 30-50 holdings, aiming to load assets into the team’s most attractive ideas from a risk/reward perspective. He and the team target firms with improving returns on capital, low leverage, and durable competitive advantages, such as brand recognition or market share leadership. They build base- and bear-case estimates for each stock, aiming to invest in firms with the smallest differences between the two. Holdings get more weight in the portfolio by having a narrower range of expected outcomes than they can for having splashy upside potential. Valuation plays a key role in estimating risk and reward, and Woglom sticks to that approach.

Woglom and the team boast significant experience. He joined the firm in 2005 as an analyst before being promoted to comanager on American Century Mid Cap Value in 2012 and American Century Equity Income in 2019. He’s led this strategy since January 2016 and is backed by four comanagers, including CIO Kevin Toney and two other multidecade veterans of the firm. Meanwhile, the 10-member analyst team is sufficiently deep and experienced, with its median analyst having 14 years of industry experience and eight at the firm.

The strategy’s defensive approach has been out of favor, leading to disappointing results in two of the last three calendar years. Yet, it has reliably protected capital on the downside, such as during the 2022 selloff and the tumultuous environment so far in 2025. Through April, its 1.5% gain easily beat the losses of 1.0% and 1.7% of the benchmark and typical large-value Morningstar Category peer, respectively. Woglom has good discipline, so this strategy is likely to outperform in the right environments.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the American Century Focused Large Cap Value ETF.

Avantis US Large Cap Value ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Large Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Silver

Avantis US Large Cap Value combines the value and profitability risk factors in an attractive way that should help it outperform most Morningstar Category peers.

Avantis’ portfolio managers select stocks from the top 90% of the US market by market capitalization. They intentionally exclude REITs and utilities. The former are held in a separate real estate fund, while the latter have attractive valuations but less upside potential because of stronger industry regulations. The managers sort this large cohort by their price/book ratio (adjusted to remove goodwill) and a cash-based measure of profitability. The portfolio holds the top 25% of stocks based on the combination of those two risk factors, preferring names that trade at lower multiples with greater profitability. The managers initially weight these stocks by their market capitalization before assigning market-cap multipliers to scale their weights. Those trading at lower price/book ratios with greater profitability receive larger multipliers than those with the opposite characteristics.

The portfolio closely reflects its emphasis on profitable companies trading at attractive valuations. Its average profitability, as measured by return on invested capital, has consistently landed above that of the category average, along with its average price/book ratio. These two characteristics are often closely related to one another, with greater profitability commanding higher price/book ratios.

The portfolio can hold growth stocks if their profits justify their relatively steeper multiples. Apple has landed among the fund’s 10 largest holdings since it was launched in late 2021. Overall, the portfolio retains an emphasis on relatively cheaper companies. It had a sizable 20% stake in the energy sector at the end of 2022. But stocks in this line of business typically trade at low multiples and had reasonable or above-average profits throughout 2022. A strong emphasis on profitability has steered the fund away from these companies as their profitability declined. They accounted for about 11% of the portfolio at the end of 2025.

Avantis launched the exchange-traded fund in September 2021, and the mutual fund version followed in June 2022. Both have delivered strong category-relative performance. The ETF beat the large-value category average by almost 2 percentage points annualized from its inception through November 2025. Low fees contribute to its advantage—Avantis charges 0.15% for both, far lower than many category peers.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the Avantis US Large Cap Value ETF.

Avantis US Small Cap Equity ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Small Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Silver

Avantis US Small-Cap Equity ETF lands in value territory despite not aiming for that segment of the Morningstar Style Box. Its cost-conscious trading approach and emphasis on higher-quality stocks in the small-cap universe should give it an edge over many of its small-value peers.

Avantis’ managers target stocks that land outside the 1,250 largest in the US market, and those with at least USD 100 million in market capitalization. Avantis offers REITs through a separate dedicated portfolio, so the exchange-traded fund excludes them. Likewise, the managers avoid holding shares in names that are believed to have lower expected returns, or those with higher price/book ratios, lower profitability, and more aggressive investment (characterized by extremely high asset growth). The managers try to hold as many of the stocks that land within those boundaries and initially weight stocks by their market capitalization. They overweight stocks with lower valuations and higher profitability to increase the portfolio’s exposure to those risk factors.

The final portfolio lands in the small-value Morningstar Category, and its composition mimics the category average with few exceptions. It doesn’t favor cheaper stocks to the same degree as many of its peers, and excluding REITs causes it to underweight the real estate sector. Instead, it places more emphasis on smaller and more profitable companies and leans toward the healthcare and financial sectors.

Transaction costs can be steep among the smallest stocks in the US market. Avantis gives its traders the freedom to select their trades from an eligible pool, which should cut down on unnecessary trading costs. Annual turnover has been considerably lower than the category norm.

The ETF has performed in line with expectations despite its limited track record. It beat the small-value category average by 75 basis points annualized from its January 2022 launch through November 2025 with comparable volatility. Avoiding REITs and focusing on smaller stocks contributed to its edge.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the Avantis US Small Cap Equity ETF.

Avantis US Small Cap Value ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Small Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Silver

Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value should continue to thrive because it diversifies well and balances its exposure to the quality and value risk factors.

This fund hunts the small-cap universe for stocks that are cheap and profitable, an attractive duo of factors. Both have historically been tied to market-beating returns, and they tend to excel at different times, with the positive effect amplified in the small-cap market. Balancing the two should keep the fund competitive in most market environments.

This strategy starts with stocks’ market-cap weightings and tilts toward those with the strongest value and profitability traits. This approach enhances factor exposure to cheaper and more profitable stocks while incorporating the information stored in stock prices. On average, the portfolio trades at cheaper valuations and is more profitable than the Russell 2000 Value category index.

Using market-cap weighting as a foundation helps reduce turnover, and Avantis’ disciplined trading approach promotes the same cause. The implementation team weighs trading costs against the expected value of making a trade. It acts only when the scales tip in its favor. Turnover seldom measures above 20% annually.

The strategy has performed well despite higher volatility. It beat the Russell 2000 Value Index by almost 5.9 percentage points annualized from its September 2019 inception through May 2025. Emphasizing cyclical sectors contributes to moderately higher volatility than the benchmark, but it wasn’t enough to cut into its risk-adjusted return advantage. Sector bets won’t always pay off, but its relatively low fee should be a persistent advantage.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the Avantis US Small Cap Value ETF.

BNY Mellon Dynamic Value ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Large Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Bronze

BNY Mellon Dynamic Value’s experienced leadership and rigorous process have driven consistent results, making it a strong choice for investors. In addition to the fund, this strategy includes an active exchange-traded fund and separately managed account clones.

Brian Ferguson has ably led this team since 2003. John Bailer joined the management ranks in 2004, and Keith Howell, an analyst of 16 years at the firm, came aboard as a comanager in September 2021. Ferguson and Bailer have posted strong results here over two decades and on BNY Mellon Income Stock over more than a decade. They lean on a large, central analyst bench; however, that team of about two dozen has seen ongoing turnover for the past seven years, in part because of a merger of Mellon with Newton and a move to a new team structure in 2021. Changes have continued over the past year, and it’s an open question whether the firm can attract and retain top talent. These issues cause concern, but they are ameliorated by the fact that the managers have deep experience and take an active role in overseeing sectors and individual stocks.

The “value-with-a-catalyst” process stands out as a somewhat aggressive yet consistently value-oriented approach whose insistence on improving fundamentals helps it avoid value traps. Quantitative screens trim the Russell 1000 Index universe based on attractive valuations, strong fundamentals, and improving business environments, with specific criteria varying across industries. Analysts help look for potential future catalysts, and the managers use the valuation-fundamentals-catalyst framework to build the portfolio. The focus on catalysts shortens the investment horizon, leading to higher turnover. Ferguson isn’t afraid to hold major active positions within sectors, up to 10 percentage points of the index, which often focus on financials and healthcare.

This strategy has long boasted consistent outperformance, topping both the benchmark and typical large-value peer over 70%-85% of rolling three-year periods of Ferguson’s two-plus-decade tenure. But recent performance has been especially strong; while the strategy typically lags its bogies in down markets, it has thrived in 2022–23 drawdowns, helping it widen outperformance margins. And despite the topsy-turvy markets so far in 2025, it was in the top 15% of peers as of June 30. Investors continue to be in good hands here.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the BNY Mellon Dynamic Value ETF.

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Brandes US Value ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Large Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Gold

A group of experienced and highly committed value investors who execute a rigorous, patient, and contrarian bottom-up process gives Brandes US Value an edge. It retains a People Pillar rating of High and a Process Pillar rating of Above Average.

The strategy, whose roots date back to 1991, is in the capable hands of Brent Fredberg, Ted Kim, Kenneth Little, and Brian Matthews, who have formed the firm’s Global Large Cap Investment Committee since 2013. All four are well-versed in Brandes’ investment philosophy, have been with the firm for more than two decades, and manage the strategy in a very collegial manner. Apart from their vast investment experience, high stability, and coinvestments in the strategy, they stand out for their intense collaboration, long-term investment horizon, contrarian mindset, and unwavering commitment to their value-oriented investment approach.

The four members, and the more than 20 sector analysts and portfolio managers who support them, are global sector experts. Their bottom-up fundamental stock research plays a critical role in the investment process. Interaction with the analyst team is well-organized, while the decision-making structure within the portfolio manager team encourages debate and diversity of thought, deepens their understanding of companies and industries, and helps to avoid value traps.

The approach is applied shopwide, which ensures full alignment of portfolio managers and analysts to their value-oriented, bottom-up, and benchmark-agnostic approach. Brandes’ strong investment culture ensures a disciplined execution of the well-structured, repeatable, and robust investment process. The managers seek to exploit behavioral biases that lead to mispriced securities and take advantage of these opportunities when a stock trades at a meaningful discount to their collective estimate of intrinsic value, using margin of safety as a key driver of position sizing. While the approach is proven and has delivered strong results over time through effective stock selection, the search for value can sometimes lead managers into a value trap.

The track record since the Global Large Cap Investment Committee was formed in 2013 has been excellent relative to peers and the Morningstar US Large-Mid Cap Broad Value Index over various time periods. This is even more impressive given the strategy’s stronger value bias over this period, coupled with a meaningful underperformance of the value style. While the strategy’s performance has been encouraging, its longer track record shows that it is not without risks, as its poor performance during the 2008 global financial crisis painfully demonstrated. Investors should therefore be prepared to accept higher volatility and the potential for returns to deviate from Morningstar Category peers and the index in order to reap the rewards over the long term.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the Brandes US Value ETF.

Capital Group Conservative Equity ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Large Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Gold

Seasoned investors steer Capital Group Conservative Value ETF’s risk-conscious approach, making it a solid long-term option.

This recently launched active exchange-traded fund has some of the same characteristics as Capital Group’s long-standing mutual funds (branded as American Funds) in that it shares the firm’s characteristic multimanager approach and is in the hands of veteran investors. Most of the firm’s ETFs are carved from a legacy vehicle, which its portfolio strategy management group uses as a base to parse into a more compact portfolio based on liquidity factors while ensuring the stylistic traits remain intact. This ETF references American Funds American Mutual and has the same manager lineup, an eight-person management team of industry veterans. While tenured manager James Terrile will step off both vehicles and retire from the firm on June 1, 2025, the remaining managers are well equipped to take over his allocation.

The mutual fund’s conservative approach can sometimes leave it out of step with market trends, but it has demonstrated value over the long term. It focuses on dividend-paying industry leaders. The mutual fund’s eligibility list, which contains around 300 companies, requires firms have an investment-grade credit rating and be industry leaders. This income-oriented approach has typically led it to land near the large-value and large-blend border of the Morningstar Style Box.

While this ETF launched in June 2024, it should display similar performance to its reference vehicle. That fund especially shines in market downturns. In the last 10 market declines of 10% or more, it has beaten its Russell 1000 Value Index Morningstar Category benchmark.

Similarly, the ETF shouldn’t be expected to shine in rallies, but it will likely be competitive over a cycle. From the early 2006 start date of the two longest-tenured managers through April 2025, American Funds American Mutual R6 shares’ 8.9% annualized gain trailed the S&P 500 prospectus benchmark’s 10.2% gain, but it beat the Russell 1000 Value Index’s 7.7%. It was about a fifth less volatile than both indexes, resulting in better risk-adjusted returns versus both indexes. Since the ETF’s late June 2024 inception through April 2025, it has slightly outperformed the mutual fund.

This ETF’s 0.33% net expense ratio places it among the large-value category’s cheapest active offerings, and its structure is more tax-advantaged than a mutual fund, making it a solid option.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the Capital Group Conservative Equity ETF.

Capital Group Dividend Value ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Large Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Gold

Increased conviction in Capital Group Dividend Value ETF’s veteran leaders merits a People rating upgrade to High from Above Average.

This active exchange-traded fund has some of the same characteristics as Capital Group’s longstanding mutual funds (branded as American Funds), in that it shares the firm’s characteristic multimanager approach and is in the hands of veteran investors. Five named managers run individual sleeves here—all but one with at least 24 years of experience at the firm—and each has the latitude to pursue their best ideas. Christopher Buchbinder heads up the strategy and has more than 29 years of investment experience, serving as a manager on this strategy’s composite since 2007. While veteran James Terrile stepped off in March 2025, the firm named Brittain Ezzes, who has more than 25 years of industry experience, to the management team in his place.

With an eye toward quality, income drives this strategy’s guidelines. In aiming for a dividend yield before fees that is 30% greater than the S&P 500, the fund mostly sticks to US investment-grade companies with a long history of paying dividends. In fact, the majority of firms have paid dividends in each of the past 10 years. This includes the top 10 holdings: Broadcom, RTX Corporation, and Microsoft. However, the managers do have the flexibility to focus on a company’s growth rate and can allocate a small portion of the fund’s assets to nondividend payers that typically have strong balance sheets, such as Alphabet.

While this strategy’s hybrid focus can leave it out of step with a pure large-value play, it has paid off over the long term. This fund tracks the firm’s Capital Group Dividend Value composite, which goes back to 2001. Since Christopher Buchbinder joined in October 2007 through March 2025, its 9.5% annualized gross gain bested the Russell 1000 Value Index’s 7.2% and outperformed the large-value Morningstar Category norm’s 6.8%, but it lagged its S&P 500 prospectus benchmark by 36 basis points. The emphasis on dividend-paying, higher-quality large-cap firms has typically led to resilient performance in down markets versus either benchmark, though when growth stocks vastly outperform, it tends to lag the S&P 500 but beat the Russell 1000 Value.

Its 0.33% net expense ratio places it among the category’s cheapest actively managed funds, and its structure is more tax-advantaged than a mutual fund, making it a top-notch option.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the Capital Group Dividend Value ETF.

Dimensional US Large Cap Value ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Large Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Silver

DFA US Large Cap Value Portfolio has a deeper value orientation than the Russell 1000 Value Index and tends to be riskier. It should reward investors who can weather its volatility.

The fund achieves its strong value orientation in a cost-conscious manner that diversifies stock-specific risks. The managers start with all stocks in the top 90% of the US market by market capitalization. They sort these firms based on their price/book ratio and go after those landing in the bottom 30% by that metric. This strategy is more focused on the cheapest segment of the market than many of its competitors, giving it one of the most pronounced value tilts in the large-value Morningstar Category. Dimensional launched the exchange-traded fund version of this strategy in late 2022, and it follows the same underlying process.

Within this subset, the managers further emphasize stocks with lower valuations, smaller market caps, and higher profitability. They tilt the portfolio toward those factors by scaling each stock’s market cap with a market-cap multiplier. Those with smaller market caps, lower valuations, and higher profitability receive larger multipliers than stocks with opposite characteristics. Each of these factors has historically been associated with market-beating performance, so this weighting approach should modestly improve the fund’s long-term performance. It also mitigates turnover as each stock’s weight changes in proportion to its market cap.

The portfolio looks modestly different from the Russell 1000 Value Index. DFA’s portfolio managers exclude regulated utilities because these stocks typically trade at lower valuations but have limited growth potential. The fund also excludes REITs because Dimensional treats them as a separate asset class.

The mutual fund’s strong value orientation is reflected in its track record. Its standard deviation was 10% higher than the Russell 1000 Value Index over the 15 years through October 2025, but it beat the index by 35 basis points annualized over this stretch. Its acute focus on cheap stocks tends to fuel strong index-relative performance when the value factor is in favor.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the Dimensional US Large Cap Value ETF.

Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Small Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Silver

DFA US Small-Cap Value Portfolio offers a compelling option with its broad, well-diversified portfolio and cost-effective execution.

This strategy targets the smallest stocks in the US market: those that land in the bottom 10% by market cap. From that universe, DFA’s portfolio managers focus on the cheapest third by price/book ratio. They further refine holdings by avoiding names with poor profitability and aggressive asset growth. Stocks with these characteristics have historically been associated with poor expected performance. The strategy weights stocks by market cap, which curbs turnover and the associated trading costs.

DFA’s traders build on that cost-effective approach. They select trades from an eligible pool provided by the fund’s portfolio managers. Traders can substitute a given stock for another with similar size and value characteristics, and they can trade patiently to further cut back on transaction costs and taxes.

The portfolio lands among the broadest and most diversified in the small-value Morningstar Category. It holds more than 1,000 stocks, while its 10 largest positions represent about 7% of its assets. The fund’s price/book ratio has consistently been lower than that of the Russell 2000 Value Index. But avoiding stocks with poor profitability tilts the portfolio toward more-profitable names, on average.

Compared with the Russell 2000 Value Index, the portfolio has stronger exposure to cheaper stocks, which tends to drive its index-relative performance. It trailed the index by 3.1 percentage points per year between October 2014 and March 2020, when stocks trading at lower valuations performed poorly. However, it beat the index by 11.1 percentage points annualized between December 2020 and March 2023, when those stocks surged back to life. The exchange-traded fund has followed a similar path over its short life. The expense ratios for the mutual fund and ETF land in the cheapest quintile of the small-value category.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the Dimensional US Small Cap Value ETF.

Dimensional US Targeted Value ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Small Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Gold

DFA US Targeted Value Portfolio’s breadth, cost-effective execution, and competitive fee should give it a long-term advantage over its small-value category peers.

This strategy focuses on stocks from the cheaper half of the US mid- and small-cap markets in a cost-effective way. It avoids holding companies with poor profitability, which should steer the portfolio away from the riskiest names in its selection universe, and it weights constituents by their market cap. This low-turnover approach captures the market’s collective opinion of each stock’s value while cutting back on trading costs.

Dimensional’s traders build on that cost-effective approach. They select trades from an eligible pool provided by the fund’s portfolio managers. Traders can substitute a given stock for another with similar size and value characteristics, and they can trade patiently to further curb transaction costs.

The portfolio lands among the broadest and most diversified in the small-value Morningstar Category. It typically holds between 1,200 and 1,400 stocks, while its 10 largest positions usually represent less than 10% of assets. The fund’s price/book ratio has been similar to the category norm, but including mid-cap stocks and tilting toward profitable firms means the portfolio’s average market cap and profitability have been higher than its peers.

Dimensional offers this strategy through a mutual fund and an exchange-traded fund. Both follow the same underlying strategy, but they may have small differences in their average characteristics owing to differences in trading and execution. They should provide a similar risk/reward profile long-term.

The fund’s intentional risk factor tilts have provided a long-term benefit. The mutual fund beat the small-value category average by almost 2 percentage points annualized over the 10 years through December 2025. Keeping a lid on trading costs contributed to its outperformance.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the Dimensional US Targeted Value ETF.

JPMorgan Active Value ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Large Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Silver

JPMorgan Active Value ETF receives Above Average People and Process ratings, driven by a sound combination of two underlying strategies with those same scores.

J.P. Morgan’s approach here is simple and reasonable. Half of this active exchange-traded fund’s assets go to the opportunistic style of JPMorgan Large Cap Value, and the other half to the more sedate approach of JPMorgan US Value, both of which dwell in the large-value Morningstar Category. The idea is that the combination of the more bold Large Cap Value and the more defensive US Value will largely track the Russell 1000 Value benchmark, while outperforming via good stock picks from two distinct perspectives.

This ETF benefits from two solid management teams. JPMorgan Large Cap Value’s very successful lead portfolio manager since 2013 is Scott Blasdell, who has been a named manager on the ETF since its October 2021 inception. John Piccard joined him as a named manager at Large Cap Value in late 2023 and here in November 2024. On the US Value side, Dave Silberman and Andy Brandon have been named managers with good records since 2019 and lead managers since the retirement of Clare Hart in the fall of 2024; they’ve been named managers here since inception. The portfolio managers of both strategies have a small group of dedicated analysts and also lean heavily on J.P. Morgan’s 20-person crew of highly experienced core equity analysts.

This ETF combines two distinctive approaches to create a nicely balanced value portfolio. The north star of JPMorgan Large Cap Value is price. Specifically, Blasdell and team compare a company’s stock price against its expected long-term cash flows; about 70-110 stocks make the cut. For JPMorgan US Value, quality is the guiding light. Silberman and Brandon think a portfolio of between 85 and 110 consistent earners with solid capital allocation should beat the market if bought at reasonable levels. Combined, the portfolio has held between 149 and 180 stocks since inception; that means there’s limited portfolio overlap, which testifies to two distinct approaches in the same universe.

In its first four years through Oct. 5, 2025, this ETF returned 10.5% annualized, topping the Russell 1000 Value Index’s 9.1%. That return falls in between those of its two underlying strategies but is a bit better than the midpoint, suggesting the blending over time boosted returns somewhat.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the JPMorgan Active Value ETF.

MFS Active Value ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Large Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Gold

MFS Active Value ETF is a relatively new offering that closely resembles its “cousin” mutual fund strategy MFS Value, meaning it employs the same team and process, though the portfolio construction is slightly different. Like the mutual fund, this exchange-traded fund will lose a comanager in May 2026, but it remains a strong option for large-cap value investors.

Comanager Nevin Chitkara will retire in May 2026, which creates an experience gap on the management team, but one that can be bridged. Chitkara will leave this portfolio in the hands of Katie Cannan and recently named comanager Tom Crowley. Cannan has just over five years of portfolio management experience, while this is Crowley’s first charge. However, they both spent over a decade at MFS and came up through the research ranks, where they were steeped in MFS’ quality-first style. Crowley was the lead sector analyst for capital goods before being named a manager, and he covered a large swathe of the portfolio’s holdings at different points in time. Portfolio management experience certainly matters, especially in volatile markets, but Cannan and Crowley will continue to rely on MFS’ strong, experienced, and stable central research team, which should help them navigate any potential choppy waters.

This strategy largely mirrors the mutual fund’s quality-first, valuation-sensitive process, though the portfolio is not a clone and not intended to be. The mutual fund and ETF look quite similar, but the ETF is more concentrated, as the managers wanted some differentiation, but they did not want to have to stretch their quality or valuation tolerances just to fill out the portfolio. This is not necessarily a new concept; MFS (and many other firms) often runs concentrated versions of the same strategy for different client bases who seek different levels of conviction.

This ETF does not have a long track record, as it launched in December 2024, though the mutual fund that it is largely based on has a very strong long-term record. Over the long term, investors in the mutual fund and ETF should expect broadly similar experiences. It should not be the case that the mutual fund grossly outperforms or underperforms the Russell 1000 Value Index while the ETF does not, or vice-versa.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the MFS Active Value ETF.

Oakmark US Large Cap ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Large Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Gold

Oakmark US Large Cap ETF, which launched in December 2024, features a familiar team striking a balance between its most well-known and successful offerings. It earns High People and Process ratings.

This strategy taps a talented team from Harris Associates, advisor to the Oakmark fund family. Its central figure is legendary value investor Bill Nygren. As Nygren enters his late 60s, however, it’s essential to pay attention to the team around him, and Nygren has done a good job engaging other colleagues in portfolio management and team leadership. His two comanagers here—Robert Bierig and Michael Nicolas—are growing in stature on Harris’ US equity team. They’ve got a strong group of analysts behind them. An October 2024 hire, Timur Sahin, brings useful quant experience that should deepen the managers’ understanding of portfolio risks and inform the exchange-traded fund’s operations by showing, among other things, how daily trading affects this portfolio’s characteristics.

This ETF picks up some intriguing features from the Harris team’s two major offerings. On one hand, the portfolio is a subset of holdings from Oakmark, a US mutual fund where Nygren has built an enviable 25-year record seeking, and often finding, cheap stocks that become winners over time. Whereas Oakmark typically has 45-60 holdings, though, the ETF is likely to have just 30-40 (disclosed daily)—and that’s a little more like Oakmark Select, which often has just 20-25 holdings. Unlike those two older funds, however, the new ETF will stick to larger-cap stocks, as its name suggests. That’s helpful for liquidity and capacity. The ETF still has plenty of room to grow—it had just USD 433 million of assets in early May 2025—but the related Oakmark and Oakmark Select strategies had a hefty USD 37 billion combined. Select, in particular, is likely reaching its limits with certain smaller-cap holdings like Lithia Motors, which isn’t in this portfolio.

So while this ETF doesn’t fully replicate either Oakmark or Oakmark Select, it draws helpful inspiration and ideas from them. This is Harris’ first ETF of its own, and it’s promising.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the Oakmark US Large Cap ETF.

Putnam Focused Large Cap Value ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Large Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Bronze

Putnam Large Cap Value Concentrated benefits from a proven manager and a disciplined approach.

Morningstar’s recent enhancement to the way we assess the alpha opportunity for funds, which is a key component in our Morningstar Medalist Rating calculation, means that some of this strategy’s Morningstar Medalist Ratings have changed with this update despite no changes to its pillar ratings and no significant change in fund costs.

Manager Darren Jaroch has led this strategy since its 2016 inception, but his effect on sibling strategy, Putnam Large Cap Value, dates back to the early 2000s when he developed the strategy’s quant model for former manager Bart Geer. Since Greer stepped down in 2012, Jaroch has compiled an excellent record on that strategy and this concentrated version, despite facing challenges such as a significant reduction in Putnam’s central analyst team between 2014 and 2019. The research team’s stability has improved in recent years, with minimal turnover since 2022 and even adding several analysts in 2024. Lauren DeMore was promoted to a comanager in 2019 after nearly 15 years as an analyst, further strengthening the team. Together, Jaroch and DeMore also run Putnam International Value, which also has a solid record.

The managers successfully combine quantitative and qualitative research in their approach. They leverage a six-factor relative value screen to identify opportunities, but they’re not beholden to the model’s recommendations. The managers will lean on the central analysts for additional ideas as well as deeper insights on companies that the model does not capture, such as management quality and potential catalysts. The managers then carefully construct the roughly 40- to 50-stock portfolio to ensure that stock-picking, rather than sector bets or factor tilts, drives performance.

Under Jaroch’s watch, the strategy has an excellent record. From its November 2016 inception through March 2025, the separately managed account composite’s 14.5% gross-of-fees annualized return topped the Russell 1000 Value Index and the average large-value Morningstar Category peer by 5.2 and 5.0 percentage points, respectively. Recent results have continued to impress, as the strategy’s trailing three- and five-year returns all rank in the top decile of its category. Strong stock-picking across several sectors, but particularly among healthcare and utilities names, fueled these results.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the Putnam Focused Large Cap Value ETF.

T. Rowe Price Equity Income ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Large Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Bronze

The T. Rowe Price Equity Income strategy, which includes vehicles under other labels run in parallel, as well as an exchange-traded fund and separately managed accounts, remains a decent option for yield-oriented large-value investors. However, lower conviction in its undifferentiated approach leads to a Process downgrade to Average from Above Average.

Manager John Linehan benefits from deep experience as a value investor and is well-supported here. He’s served in this role since November 2015 after joining the firm in 1998. Much of his time at T. Rowe Price was spent managing other value strategies, as well as a five-year executive stint as head of US equity. While he’s the only named manager here, he collaborates in three main channels. First, Simon Paterson became associate manager here on Jan. 1, 2026, replacing a retiring Heather McPherson. Paterson is learning the manager role, but as a seasoned industrials analyst, he’s able to question Linehan and challenge his thinking, too. That’s also the culture of a weekly meeting with four other value managers at the firm, where Linehan benefits from hearing colleagues’ views and decisions on stocks he owns or is considering. Plus, there are his regular interactions with T. Rowe Price Associates’ vast and rigorous central analyst team.

Three main considerations guide the process—strong dividend yields, attractive long-term fundamentals, and compelling valuations. This is a reasonable but widely used formula, and its application isn’t refined. Benchmarked to the Russell 1000 Value Index, the strategy falls in between a full commitment to the spirit of its income-oriented mandate and a desire to track its broader benchmark. Linehan’s tendency to limit bets versus the index too often fails to deliver a differentiated portfolio. Additionally, the process lacks guidelines or nudges to help the team avoid value traps, which have occasionally hurt results. For these reasons, the Process rating is downgraded to Average from Above Average. Still, other elements are notable, such as lower portfolio turnover than most peers, which demonstrates Linehan’s commitment to investing for the long term.

Returns have struggled recently, eroding Linehan’s track record here. But performance should improve considerably if and when value returns to favor in a more significant and durable way. Linehan continues to serve investors well, and despite some reservations about the investment approach, the strategy’s cheaper vehicles still have a fighting chance to add value.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the T. Rowe Price Equity Income ETF.

Vanguard US Value Factor ETF

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Mid-Cap Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Bronze

Vanguard US Value Factor ETF is a deep-value strategy that experiences higher highs and lower lows than most, but its broad reach and low fee should tip the scales in its long-term favor.

This exchange-traded fund places a pronounced bet on the value factor. The systematic strategy absorbs the cheapest stocks from the large-, mid-, and small-cap markets and weights them based on the strength of their value characteristics. That double-dip in value breeds an exceptionally cheap portfolio. Its price/earnings and price/book ratios, traditional measures of value, typically rank among the cheapest in the mid-cap value category.

Selecting and weighting stocks by their valuations differentiates this fund from the Russell Mid Cap Value, its category benchmark, and other investments that tie portfolio weight to market capitalization. The fund’s deep-value orientation doesn’t stem from concentrated bets. It has historically held between 550 and 825 holdings, while its 10 largest positions represented only 5% to 10% of the portfolio.

The fund takes on avoidable risks elsewhere. It screens out real estate and utilities stocks. Those sectors have represented between 15% and 20% of the Russell Mid Cap Value in recent years. The portfolio has typically filled the void by overweighting cyclical stocks such as those from the financials and energy sectors, which can add to its risk. Moreover, the strategy does little to protect itself from stocks that are cheap for good reasons. Going all-in on value leaves it with worse profitability and financial health metrics than the category index.

Its deep-value orientation amps up its risk/reward profile. The fund has thrived when value rallied, like 2021 when its 37% gain ranked among the category’s top decile. But the drawdowns can sting. The fund slid 7.5 percentage points further than the Russell Mid Cap Value during 2020’s first quarter, which illustrates the perils of its aggressive approach and the sector biases that come with it.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the Vanguard US Value Factor ETF.

WisdomTree US Value Fund

• Morningstar Category
  : US Fund Mid-Cap Value
• Morningstar Medalist Rating
  : Bronze

WisdomTree US Value ETF systematically chooses stocks with high combined dividend and net buyback yields. This approach can invite extra risk, but the fund’s low fee and risk control mechanism should support a durable advantage.

The fund is actively managed but uses quantitative rules to fill its portfolio. It screens the largest 800 US stocks for those returning the most money to shareholders, either through dividend payments or buybacks. A stock’s combined dividend and net buyback yield is its shareholder yield, or total yield. Some competitors include debt reduction in their shareholder yield calculation, but that’s a less direct way to benefit shareholders.

A shareholder yield strategy has merit, but careful implementation is key to controlling risk. On the one hand, dividend-focused portfolios tend to concentrate on steady-value names whose earnings stability can provide a long-term advantage. On the other hand, buyback-focused portfolios back into quality stocks but experience high turnover owing to the opportunistic buyback market. This fund still experiences high turnover, but WisdomTree’s composite risk score shifts focus away from the riskiest high yielders.

The risk score considers several quality and momentum characteristics, and the portfolio excludes firms with high shareholder yields and poor composite risk scores. Managers also have some discretion to tweak position weights up or down to control differences between the portfolio, the Russell Midcap Value Index, and the Russell 1000 Value Index. These steps prevent the fund from concentrating in risky names but still allow it to maximize exposure to the total yield factor.

The total yield factor has enjoyed a meaningful premium in recent years, according to the Morningstar Risk Model, helping fund performance since the fund switched to its current process in December 2017. Since then, through June 2025, it outpaced the Russell Midcap Value category index by 4.7 percentage points annualized with comparable volatility. It also captured just 90% of that index’s downside, underscoring the positive effect of its composite risk score.

Read Morningstar’s full report on the WisdomTree US Value Fund.

How to Find More of the Best Value Stock ETFs to Buy for the Long Term

Given their high Morningstar Medalist Ratings, we expect the top-rated ETFs on our list to outperform over a full market cycle. That being said, investors may want to expand their search beyond this list, using parameters that matter to them. Here are more ways to find more of the best value stock ETFs and mutual funds:

• Use the Morningstar Investor screener to create your own list of funds to investigate further.
• Explore Morningstar Medalist funds on our Best Investments page.
• Read our latest ETF insights and analysis on Morningstar.com.