Walmart Inc. (WMT) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 12th

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) declared 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 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th.

Walmart has raised its dividend by an average of 4.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 52 years. Walmart has a dividend 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 Performance

WMT opened at $97.81 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $785.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.59, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.55. Walmart has a 1-year low of $58.18 and a 1-year high of $105.30.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $180.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.83 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $2,689,601.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,785,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $349,609,579.70. The trade was a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 146,528 shares of company stock worth $13,849,185. Company insiders own 45.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Walmart in a report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $86.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Walmart in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Walmart from $98.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.07.

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.