Dividend Aristocrat Walmart (WMT) reported on Tuesday weaker-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings due to a shorter-than-usual holiday shopping season. The company said that fiscal 2021 earnings would miss analysts’ estimates.
Walmart’s earnings for the three months ended January were $4.14 billion, or $1.45 a share vs. earnings of $3.69 billion, or $1.27 a share, compared to last year. However, on an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.38 a share, less than the $1.44 a share expected by analysts. A positive note is the fact that E-commerce sales gained 37%, the company said.
Walmart has increased its annual cash dividend every year since first declaring a $0.05 per share annual dividend in March 1974. The current quarterly dividend is $0.53, which results in a dividend yield of around 1.8%.
Outlook
For fiscal 2021, it expects adjusted EPS between $5 and $5.15, sales growth of 3% at constant currencies. Analysts expected earnings of $5.21 for the fiscal 2021 year.
source: press release
