It’s a big day for retail giant Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and even more so for its investors, who sent shares up fractionally in Wednesday afternoon trading after word emerged about its upcoming three-for-one stock split. Walmart then followed that up with another major announcement, this time focusing on something else that it hasn’t done in a long time: open new stores. Specifically, Walmart is planning to roll out over 150 new “large-format” stores throughout the United States.
However, it may not build all of them from scratch, as reports note that Walmart is planning to either build new or expand smaller locations into full-on Supercenters. However, most of the 150 involved will be brand new construction. Most of the details were kept quiet for the time being, as Walmart refused to mention how much the new stores would cost or which parts of the United States would see such expansion. Further, Walmart is also planning to ramp up its Sam’s Club warehouse store presence, with over 30 new stores planned.
Another Multi-Year First
When word of Walmart’s stock split came out, it was a huge deal because this was the first time in nearly three decades that Walmart engaged in a stock split; the last one was back in 1999. While it hasn’t been nearly that long since Walmart last built a new store, it’s still been a while, with about three years to separate the last one from today. One of the biggest reasons for this is actually connected to its online strategy; Walmart has an extensive online presence, but it uses its stores not just as stores but also as order fulfillment for online purchases. Why have a fleet of vans when you can just have a store for people to pick up their own orders? And maybe, while they’re there, get something else?
Is Walmart a Good Stock to Invest In Right Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on WMT stock based on 26 Buys and four Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 16.6% rally in its share price over the past year, the average WMT price target of $180.41 per share implies 8.48% upside potential.
