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

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th.

Walmart has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 52 consecutive years. Walmart has a dividend payout ratio of 30.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 stock opened at $97.81 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $785.78 billion, a PE ratio of 40.59, 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 has a 1 year low of $58.18 and a 1 year high of $105.30.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WMT. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target (up from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $103.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher James Nicholas sold 17,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.42, for a total value of $1,661,792.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 348,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,891,867.94. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.60, for a total transaction of $1,215,375.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 566,794 shares in the company, valued at $52,485,124.40. This represents a 2.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 146,528 shares of company stock worth $13,849,185. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.