WMT Walmart Inc

By Colin Kellaher

Walmart Inc. on Thursday said its board raised the quarterly dividend by 1.9%, to 55 cents from 54 cents, and approved a new $20 billion share-repurchase program.

The new payout, equal to $2.20 a year, represents an annual yield of about 1.49% based on Wednesday's closing price of $147.20, up from 1.47%.

The Bentonville, Ark., retail giant said the increased dividend is payable April 5 to shareholders of record March 19, adding that it has now raised its dividend for 48 consecutive years.

Walmart said it bought back about 19 million shares for roughly $2.6 billion during fiscal 2021, which ended last month, under a $20 billion authorization approved in October 2017.

The company, which has roughly 2.83 billion shares outstanding, sports a market capitalization of about $412 billion.

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 18, 2021 07:48 ET (12:48 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.