Their focus on food protects your dividends

Article Excerpt

Rising interest rates and inflation give consumers less money to spend. However, these two retailers sell mainly food and other essential items. That cuts their risk and should let them keep raising their dividends. WALMART INC. $163 is a buy. The company (New York symbol WMT; Conservative Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 2.7 billion; Market cap: $440.1 billion; Dividend yield: 1.4%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.walmart.com) is the world’s largest retailer, with 10,482 outlets in 19 countries. With the April 2023 payment, Walmart raised your quarterly dividend by 1.8%. Investors now receive $0.57 a share instead of $0.56. The new annual rate of $2.28 yields 1.4%. Groceries supply roughly 60% of Walmart’s U.S. sales. That encourages repeat visits, which cuts your risk. General merchandise accounts for 26% of its sales, while health and wellness and other categories supply the remaining 14%. In the fiscal 2024 second quarter ended July 31, 2023, the company’s sales rose 5.7%, to $161.6 billion from $152.9 billion a year earlier…