5 Best Consumer Staple Stocks

2. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 67

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is an American retail company that operates chains of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores. The company also operates membership-only retail warehouse clubs through Sam’s Club division.

On September 14, KeyBanc analyst Bradley Thomas initiated coverage of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) with an Overweight rating and a $155 price target. The analyst told investors that the company “over-earned” in the pandemic and is now “under-earning” due to “grossly inaccurate inventory positioning.” However, he added that normalization of margins “bodes positively for patient investors.”

Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is on its way to becoming a dividend king next quarter as it has increased its dividend for 49 consecutive years. The company has a dividend yield of 1.71% as of September 28. The quarterly dividends for all four quarters of FY2022 were declared in February, and the latest one is due on January 3, 2023, to the shareholders of record on December 9, 2022.