“We’re pleased to see more customers choosing Walmart during this inflationary period, and we’re working hard to support them as they prioritize their spending,”
~ Wal Mart CEO Doug McMillon, Aug. 2022
Written by Bryan Lutz, Editor at Dollarcollapse.com:
If you’re wealthy and want to stay low-key, wear your plaid pajamas to Wal Mart.
It would be anything new, America’s wealthiest started “battling” inflation by choosing their highest value option, Wal Mart, near the end of the pandemic.
In August, 2022, NBC reported that:
Sky-high inflation is driving America’s wealthy families to Walmart
“Virtually no one is immune to inflation, especially given consumer prices are the highest they’ve been in the last 40 years.
Even America’s wealthiest families are feeling the pinch in some ways.
As they seek refuge from price increases, that group is now increasingly looking to America’s largest value option: Walmart.
The retail giant’s reputation for lower prices is driving more middle- and high-income shoppers to its shelves, Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey told CNBC Tuesday.
Rainey estimated that about three-quarters of Walmart’s market share gains in food came from customers with annual household incomes of $100,000 or more.”
It would seem the wealthy aren’t ashamed to wheel their carts into their local Wal-Mart Supercenter and toss in a few “Great Valu” items in here and there.
In fact, they are comfortable…
One of the easiest ways to make more money is to start spending less.
The other easiest way is to buy something at lower value that will provide more value over time – we call that a value investment.
That is the way Warren Buffett has made the majority of his money. He invests in a company that is evergreen and undervalued, then collects dividends.
Wal Mart, for example, pays out a fine dividend at $2.28 annually(or 3.83% annual yield), and has recently issued at 3-to-1 share split.
This does not exactly make Wal Mart a value investment, but it does make the stock more accessible for their employees, retail investors…
And any person looking to protect their wealth during a recession. Grocery stores typically perform well, and if you were looking for proof, we saw that during the two and a half years of pandemic lockdown.
In March of 2020, Wal Mart (WMT: NYSE), went down to about $104.05 per share and over the course of the following three years the price hit a maximum of $176.
At price at which, the wealth Walton Family cashed out on Friday last week…
Bloomberg reports:
Walton Family Sells $1.5 Billion of Walmart Stock After Jump
“Members of the Walton family sold roughly $1.5 billion worth of Walmart Inc. stock at the end of last week as shares hovered near a record high.
The Walton Family Holdings Trust sold about 8.82 million shares between Feb. 21 and Feb. 23, according to US Securities and Exchange Commission filings from late Friday. The notifications were filed on behalf of Alice, Jim and Rob Walton.
Walmart has climbed about 13% this year, outperforming the 3.2% advance in the S&P Retail Select Industry Index. The shares rose 1.8% on Monday to close at a fresh record high. It was the first day of trading for Walmart after its 3-for-1 stock split took effect.”
If you want to feel as comfortable as the wealthy Waltons. Comfortable enough to wear plaid pajamas at Wal Mart without feeling awkward…
The stock is now at an affordable price (about $59 per share).
However, no matter the price, even the considerably wealthy know the highest value when they see it.
Here’s a short overview of Wal-Mart’s recent moves…
Forbes reports:
Walmart Stock Splits 3-1—Rallies To Record-High Share Price
- “Walmart’s stock split on a 3-1 basis effective Monday, a move announced Jan. 30.
- The split resulted in existing investors’ shares tripling as the price per share was cut by two-thirds, keeping Walmart’s total shareholder equity the same while cutting its stock price from $175.56 to $58.52 as of Friday’s closing share price.
- Shares of Walmart performed strongly in their first day of trading following the company’s first stock split in 25 years.
- The stock rose almost 2% to about $59.59 by close, just shy of its split-adjusted, intraday record high of over $60 briefly achieved last week but hitting its highest-ever closing level ever.”
