Wal-Mart's $12.8 Billion Cash Return to Shareholders

Judging by the stock's reaction, investors weren't happy with Wal-Mart's latest earnings results. Shares have dipped since the retailer posted a less-than-2% rise in revenue over the last year. Still, Wal-Mart's financial strength gave the company room to fund a massive $12.8 billion annual cash return to shareholders.

In the video below, Fool contributor Demitrios Kalogeropoulos puts that capital return program in perspective, noting that it was split evenly between spending on dividends and stock buybacks. And as huge as it seems, that cash outlay represented less than half of Wal-Mart's overall profit for the year, which means the company has plenty of room to expand the program in the years ahead while still investing heavily in its business.

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The article Wal-Mart's $12.8 Billion Cash Return to Shareholders originally appeared on Fool.com.

Demitrios Kalogeropoulos has no position in any stocks mentioned, and neither does The Motley Fool. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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