Walmart delivers for investors

Article Excerpt

WALMART INC., $119, is a buy. Investors in this retailer (New York symbol WMT; Conservative Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares o/s: 2.9 billion; Market cap: $345.1 billion; Dividend yield: 1.8%; Divd. Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.walmart.com) have been rewarded with an annual dividend increase every year since 1974. Walmart last raised the quarterly payment by 1.9% in April. You now receive $0.53 a share for a new annual rate of $2.12. It yields 1.8%. The company plans to expand its Delivery Unlimited service to 1,400 U.S. cities by the end of 2019. That follows successful testing in four markets. For a yearly fee of $98 (or $12.95 per month), Delivery Unlimited gives Walmart customers unlimited home delivery of groceries and some general merchandise items. The new service should help the company compete with similar programs from traditional brick-and-mortar retailers, like Target, and from Amazon.com and other online giants. Investors have gained 29% since the start of the year, and the stock now trades at 24.6 times…