Walmart Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NASDAQ:WMT)

Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be given a dividend of 0.2475 per share by the retailer on Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th.

Walmart has increased its dividend by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 53 consecutive years. Walmart has a dividend payout ratio of 32.2% meaning 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WMT traded down $1.75 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $124.87. 42,943,075 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 39,484,145. Walmart has a 1 year low of $79.81 and a 1 year high of $134.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $995.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $119.05 and a 200 day moving average of $108.98.

Walmart (NASDAQ:WMT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The retailer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.31% and a net margin of 3.26%.The company had revenue of $190.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $188.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. Walmart’s quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Walmart has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.750-2.850 EPS and its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.610-0.610 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Walmart will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WMT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Walmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $119.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Argus upgraded Walmart to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Walmart and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 target price (up from $108.00) on shares of Walmart in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price objective on Walmart from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.59.

Walmart Company Profile

Walmart is a multinational retail corporation that operates a broad portfolio of store formats and digital services. Its core business includes large-format supercenters, discount department stores, neighborhood grocery stores and a membership warehouse chain, Sam’s Club. The company’s merchandising mix covers groceries, household goods, apparel, electronics and pharmacy services, supplemented by private-label products and category-specific offerings. Walmart pairs its physical store network with online platforms and mobile applications to provide omnichannel shopping, fulfillment and delivery options for consumers and businesses.

The company was founded by Sam Walton, who opened the first store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962; it is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.