Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is set to report earnings this Thursday. The retail behemoth is expected to post $1.15 in earnings per share (versus $1.14 a year ago) on less than a 2% revenue gain to $116.25 billion.

The real question is what the retail giant projects as its own economic indicator. With newer management and a focus on niche store growth now, Walmart isn’t expensive at all. But it isn’t exactly dirt cheap either. With shares trading around $79, Walmart’s stock is valued at 14.9 times this year’s expected earnings per share.

Walmart’s dividend yield is 2.4%. It seems almost certain that a dividend hike is not coming for another six months or so, as its second straight $0.48 dividend per share was just paid out last week.

Zacks Investment Research represented on Monday that of the 43 retail sector S&P 500 index components, 22 have already reported earnings, and that total earnings have so far only been up by 3.1% on 6.3% higher revenues. Zacks showed that only 36.1% of them beat earnings estimates, but a respectable 45.5% have been ahead of revenue expectations. Zacks further said:

The remaining 21 retailers are expected to -2.1% lower earnings from the same period last year. Wal-Mart and Macy’s total earnings are expected to be little changed from the year-earlier level.

Perhaps the big story is in Walmart’s chart. Resistance was strong in the $80 area in 2013, and $79 has been a period of resistance in the past month or two. That also coincides with where the stock is trading now.

With its shares trading around $79, Walmart’s 52-week trading range is $71.51 to $81.37. Thomson Reuters has a consensus analyst price target of $81.00 on the stock, and the highest price target is up at $87.00.

READ MORE: Warren Buffett’s Nine Top Dividend Stocks

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