There are no safe havens in the stock market. Every stock carries risk. But some less than others. This column features stocks that have shown one or more of the following characteristics: less volatility, better earnings, larger market caps, safe and increasing dividends. In these times of turmoil, our goal is to show readers better opportunities for investing with fewer risks.

February 18, 2011 - Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT-NYSE) operates retail stores in various formats worldwide. The company's Walmart U.S. segment offers meat, produce, deli, bakery, dairy, frozen foods, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, and floral and dry grocery; health and beauty aids, baby products, household chemicals, paper goods, and pet supplies; electronics, toys, cameras and supplies, photo processing services, cellular phones, cellular service plan contracts and prepaid service, and seasonal merchandise; fabrics and crafts, stationery and books, automotive accessories, hardware and paint, and sporting goods; pharmacy and optical services; shoes, jewelry, and accessories, as well as apparel for women, girls, men, boys, and infants; and home furnishings, housewares and small appliances, bedding, home décor, outdoor living, and horticulture products through discount stores, supercenters, and neighborhood markets, as well as through walmart.com.

Walmart International includes various formats of retail stores, discount stores, supermarkets, supercenters, hypermarkets, restaurants, apparel stores, Sam's Clubs, and online retail operations. This segment also operates banks that focus on consumer lending, as well as consumer credit products.

Sam's Club offers hardgoods, softgoods, and selected private-label items under the Member's Mark, Bakers & Chefs, and Sam's Club brands through warehouse membership clubs in the United States, as well as through samsclub.com.

It operates stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, the United Kingdom, China, and India. The company was founded in 1945 and is based in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Latest News:
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, February 21, 2012. Wal-Mart Stores operates Walmart discount stores, supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and Sam's Club locations in the United States.

The average analyst estimate is for profit of $1.45 per share, a rise of 8.2% from the company's actual earnings for the year-ago quarter. The average estimate is the same as three months ago. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate was unchanged. It also has not changed during the last month. For the year, analysts are projecting net income of $4.48 per share, a rise of 10.1% from last year. Analysts predict a rise of 6.8% in revenue from the year-earlier quarter to $124.28 billion.

Of the 23 analysts surveyed, 13 (56.5%) rate Wal-Mart Stores a buy. This falls under the mean analyst rating of 10 competitors, which average 56.9% buy ratings.

In the third quarter, profit fell 2.9% to $3.34 billion (96 cents a share) from $3.44 billion (95 cents a share) the year earlier, meeting analyst expectations. Revenue rose 8.1% to $110.23 billion from $101.95 billion.

Between November 17, 2011 and February 15, 2012, the stock price rose $5.38 (9.5%), from $56.38 to $61.76. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between January 10, 2012 and January 20, 2012, when shares rose for eight straight days, increasing 3.3% (+$1.97) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between July 22, 2011 and August 4, 2011 when shares fell for 10 straight days, dropping 8.1% (-$4.36) over that span.

Expectations:
Earnings For 2012: $4.48
Earnings for 2013: $ 4.90

Important Numbers:
- Trailing P/E: 13.14
- Forward P/E: 12.67
- Price to sales ratio: .48
- Price to book: 3.17
- Operating Margin: 5.94%
- Profit Margin: 3.77%
- Return on Equity: 23.11%
- Return on Assets: 8.56%
- Total cash: $7.06 billion
- Cash per share: $2.06
- Total debt: $59.32 billion
- Debt to equity: 82.66%
- Current ratio: .88
- Book Value per share: $19.54
- Beta: .34
- 52 week change: 12.03%
- Shares outstanding: 3.42 billion
- Float: 1.78 billion
- Insiders own: 49.74%
- Institutions own: 31.3%
- Dividend: $1.46
- Yield: 2.4%

Company Web site: www.waltmartstores.com

-  Ted Allrich