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

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors 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 0.99%. 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 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 Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $94.70 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a PE ratio of 39.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $95.63 and its 200 day moving average is $86.71. Walmart has a 1 year low of $57.77 and a 1 year high of $105.30.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Walmart from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America increased their price target on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Walmart from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Walmart from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz bought 5,446 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,577.05. The trade was a 230.86 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total transaction of $166,658.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 460,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,956,404.35. The trade was a 0.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 176,777 shares of company stock worth $16,570,112 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

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.