Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is offering its store managers stock grants, which based on a manager’s store format, can range between $10,000 and $20,000. That announcement came on the heels of Walmart’s decision to roll out a souped-up compensation package for managers.
“We ask our managers to own their roles and act like owners. And now they’ll literally be owners,” John Furner, the head of Walmart’s U.S. operations, said at the end of January.
It’s not only managers that Walmart wants to encourage to buy into stock ownership. The company just announced a three-for-one stock split, a move that it said was being made in part to allow more employees to buy into its stock purchase plan. “It was a good time to split the stock and encourage our associates to participate in the years to come,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement.
Walmart’s decisions come as it plans an aggressive store expansion plan, with 150 new superstores to be built over the next five years. The employee-stock related news also comes at a time when President Biden and his economic team have stepped up pressure on grocery chains to lower prices, citing operating margins that have still been rising even as other retail businesses see margins decline amid lower inflation.
WMT shares kicked off Monday off 41 cents to $169.16.
Related Stories
