Robotic equipment will lift profits

Article Excerpt

WALMART INC. $141 is a buy. The world’s largest retailer (New York symbol WMT; Conservative Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 2.7 billion; Market cap: $380.7 billion; Dividend yield: 1.6%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.walmart.com) raised your quarterly dividend by 1.8% with the April 2022 payment, to $0.56 a share from $0.55. The new annual rate of $2.24 yields 1.6%. Walmart has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount for Alert Innovation, a private firm that makes robotic equipment to sort and pack grocery items inside storage warehouses. Food sellers increasingly use this equipment as they expand their online ordering and home delivery services. The company’s familiarity with Alert Innovation’s products helps cut the risk of this acquisition. The purchase will also make it easier for Walmart to install this technology in more of its warehouses. Walmart is a buy. buy…