WAL-MART STORES INC. $76 - New York symbol WMT

WAL-MART STORES INC. $76 (New York symbol WMT; Conservative Growth Portfolio: Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 3.3 billion; Market cap: $250.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 2.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.walmart. com) is ending its joint venture in India with Bharti Enterprises.

Under the terms of the breakup, Wal-Mart will own 100% of 20 Best Price Modern Wholesale stores, which sell a wide variety of food and other goods to restaurants and other businesses. Bharti will gain full control of 212 Wal-Mart-style stores.

India has opened up its retail market to foreign companies in the past few years. However, many restrictions remain, such as requiring foreign supermarkets to buy 30% of their products from small Indian firms. That hurts these stores’profits.

Wal-Mart is a buy.

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