Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, August 28, 2020

Article Excerpt

WALMART INC., $140.30, New York symbol WMT, is a buy. The company is the world’s biggest retailer, with 11,484 outlets in 27 countries. With the April 2020 payment, Walmart increased your quarterly dividend by 1.9%. The company’s shareholders now receive $0.54 a share instead of $0.53. Walmart’s new annual rate of $2.16 yields a solid 1.5%. The company continues to benefit as the COVID-19 pandemic prompts consumers to stock up on food and household goods at its stores and Internet sites. In its fiscal 2021 second quarter, ended July 31, 2020, sales rose 5.6%, to $137.74 billion from $130.38 billion a year earlier. That just beat the consensus forecast of $137.73 billion. In addition to higher in-store sales, U.S. online sales soared 97%. As a result, Walmart’s U.S. same-store sales (including online) rose 9.3%. That reflects a 27.0% jump in spending per visit, offset by a 14.0% decline in the number of transactions. In response to COVID-19, the company has spent more to clean its stores,…