Walmart (WMT) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) will announce its earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, May 16th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.52 per share for the quarter. Individual interested in registering for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The retailer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 2.39%. The company had revenue of $173.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Walmart to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $3 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Walmart Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $60.30 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.12. The company has a market cap of $485.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.49. Walmart has a one year low of $48.34 and a one year high of $61.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Walmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.2075 per share. This represents a $0.83 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Walmart’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,582,913,441.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Jim C. Walton sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.78, for a total value of $117,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 656,395,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,582,913,441.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 29,124 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.93, for a total transaction of $1,687,250.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,076,892 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,187,943.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,019,140 shares of company stock worth $1,696,045,631 over the last three months. Company insiders own 46.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Walmart from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Walmart from $54.33 to $58.67 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Walmart in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Walmart in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Walmart to $66.67 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.94.

Walmart Company Profile

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.