Groceries give Walmart an edge

Article Excerpt

WALMART INC. $163 is a buy. Shares of the retailing giant (New York symbol WMT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 2.7 billion; Market cap: $440.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.walmart.com) are now up 14% since the start of 2023, compared to 11% for the S&P 500 Index. That’s largely because higher interest rates and inflation are prompting more consumers to visit its discount-price stores, particularly for groceries. In fact, food now accounts for 60% of sales at its U.S. outlets. Even though Walmart, like other retailers, has had to raise its selling prices to offset higher costs for fuel and labour, it expects price increases will stabilize by early 2024. Moreover, Walnart is using its high market share to negotiate better prices from its suppliers. The company will probably earn $6.47 a share in the fiscal year ending January 31, 2024, and the stock trades at a reasonable 25.2 times that estimate. Walmart has also raised the…