A half century of annual dividend increases

Article Excerpt

Walmart has long history of successfully adapting to changing consumer trends. For example, it’s now aggressively expanding its online shopping operations with robotic equipment. That will help keep its costs down and let it keep raising your dividend, something it’s done each of the past 50 years. WALMART INC. $160 is a buy. The company (New York symbol WMT; Conservative Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 2.7 billion; Market cap: $432.0 billion; Dividend yield: 1.4%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.walmart.com) is the world’s largest retailer, with 10,623 outlets in 20 countries. Those stores serve a total of 240 million customers each week. With the April 2023, payment, Walmart raised your quarterly dividend by 1.8%. Investors now receive $0.57 a share instead of $0.56. The new annual rate of $2.28 yields 1.4%. Groceries supply roughly 61% of Walmart’s U.S. sales. That encourages repeat visits, which cuts investor risk. General merchandise accounts for a further 25% of its sales, while health and wellness and other categories supply…