Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) shares could be one of the leading choices to buy when it comes to passive income from a ASX blue-chip share.
Wesfarmers is best known for owning a number of Australia's leading retailers including Bunnings, Kmart and Officeworks. But, it also has other businesses including Target, Priceline, a number of healthcare businesses and a chemicals, energy and fertilisers (WesCEF) business.
When you have businesses of that strength, they are capable of delivering reliable dividend income because of how consistent their payouts are.
With how the company is regularly its payout, it could be an appealing option for investors that want rising dividends to offset the impacts of inflation, which continues to be a factor in the economy.
Let's take a look at the forecast for the business in 2027.
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Forecast for Wesfarmers shares for 2027
The business is projected to increase its dividend per share for the 2026 financial year to $2.16.
The payout could be hiked by the board of directors to $2.33 per share, representing an increase of 7.9% year over year. That's not a huge increase, but it does outpace the current rate of inflation quite comfortably.
At the time of writing, that forecast translates into a potential FY27 grossed-up dividend yield of 3.6%, including franking credits. That's not a huge yield, but it would only represent the payout for year one, with more increases likely in the years ahead.
There are a number of ways that Wesfarmers could grow its earnings. For example, it could continue gaining market share with its Kmart and Bunnings businesses as they offer greater ranges, expand their store networks, benefit from increased scale and add bolt-on ideas to its core offering.
Kmart's Anko products brand now has several stores in the Philippines, a country with a very large addressable market.
I'm also optimistic about the potential of lithium mining to add to Wesfarmers' earnings as its lithium project ramps up production. The recent huge rise in the lithium price bodes well for WesCEF, in my view.
How much passive income would a $10,000 investment pay?
If an Australian invested $10,000 in the Bunnings and Kmart owner, they'd be getting a slice of a high-quality business.
At the time of writing, they'd be able to buy 107 Wesfarmers shares, with a little leftover money.
With those Wesfarmers shares, an investor is forecast to receive $249.31 of dividend cash and $106.85 of franking credits.
Wesfarmers is a quality business, but its share price has surged in recent weeks, so it's worthwhile asking if it's the best value ASX share investment to buy today.
According to CMC Invest's collation of analyst opinions, there have been 10 ratings on the business in the last three months. Of those 10 ratings, only one was a buy, six were holds and there were three sells.
In other words, there are other ASX shares that could be better value to buy today.
