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. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th.

Walmart has increased its dividend 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 dividend payout ratio of 30.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WMT opened at $94.70 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $95.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $760.77 billion, a PE ratio of 39.30, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart has a 52 week low of $57.77 and a 52 week high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $180.55 billion during 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%. Analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 257,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,419,362.80. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel J. Bartlett sold 1,600 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.99, for a total transaction of $166,384.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 423,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,049,852.03. This trade represents a 0.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 176,777 shares of company stock worth $16,570,112. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMT shares. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective (up previously from $97.00) on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Walmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Walmart from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.43.

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.