Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) Announces $0.24 Quarterly Dividend

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of 0.235 per share by the retailer on Monday, January 5th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th.

Walmart has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 52 years. Walmart has a payout ratio of 30.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Walmart to earn $3.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.94 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.1%.

Walmart Price Performance

WMT opened at $93.64 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.89. The company has a market capitalization of $752.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.85, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart has a 12-month low of $58.18 and a 12-month high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 21.87%. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on WMT shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Walmart from $89.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. DZ Bank cut Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $91.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walmart

In related news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 5,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.45, for a total value of $512,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 87,404 shares in the company, valued at $7,993,095.80. The trade was a 6.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total value of $1,207,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 579,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,352,180. The trade was a 2.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 194,377 shares of company stock valued at $18,231,904. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Company Profile

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.