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

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.235 per share by the retailer on Monday, January 5th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th.

Walmart has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 52 consecutive years. Walmart has a payout ratio of 30.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $94.70 on Friday. Walmart has a 1 year low of $57.77 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $95.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.57. The company has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.02. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.87% and a net margin of 2.85%. The company had revenue of $180.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walmart will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.80, for a total transaction of $3,754,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at $716,577.05. The trade was a 230.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 176,777 shares of company stock valued at $16,570,112 over the last three months. Insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Walmart from $98.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Walmart from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.43.

About Walmart

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.