Stocks mixed after breakout rally

Walmart (WMT) investors are gearing up for a stock split later today.

For the 12th time in 50 years, Walmart will conduct a stock split after the close of trading in an effort to make shares more affordable for its employees, as Yahoo Finance senior reporter Brooke DiPalma reported. Shares will trade on a post-split basis starting Feb. 26.

Walmart last carried out a 2-for-1 stock split on April 20, 1999. This time, it will be the company’s first 3-for-1 stock split.

This comes amid a flurry of employee-friendly initiatives this year from the world’s largest retailer. The other ones include offering store managers stock grants of up to $20,000 and a higher starting base pay rate.

I assure you these are not the normal practices in the retail sector. But they should be given the increasing demands on store workers, such as racing around cavernous aisles to fulfill online orders.

Here’s what Walmart CFO John David Rainey told me on Yahoo Finance Live this week when I asked if there was a cultural reset happening inside the company:

“You might call it that. It’s an interesting characterization of it. Look, I think fundamentally for us, we want to continue to invest in our associates. Fortunately for us, we have the margin profile as a company right now where we can still do that, invest in our associates but also see our operating income grow faster over time.

“I think a consistent theme through my two-and-a-half decades of work is that when we get the operators of our business, the frontline, to act like owners, that’s a very good thing for shareholders as well. So we’re very happy to allow our store managers to participate through share ownership with the stock grant.”

What’s good for employees could be good for a company’s stock price. makes sense!