After surging a remarkable 30.5% from 18 May to close at $92.96 apiece on 20 July, Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) shares have come under heavy selling pressure.
On Wednesday afternoon, shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) conglomerate – whose retail subsidiaries include Bunnings Warehouse, Kmart Australia, Officeworks and Priceline – were changing hands for $72.60 each.
That sees the Wesfarmers share price down 21.9% in four months.
Most of that selling looks to be driven by concerns over the impacts of high inflation and potential further interest rate hikes on consumer sentiment, as well as Wesfarmers' own cost of doing business.
But with shares having come back to earth from their July highs, is the ASX 200 stock now a good buy for passive income?
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What kind of dividend yield does Wesfarmers stock offer?
Wesfarmers paid a fully franked interim dividend of $1.02 a share on 31 March,
The ASX 200 stock will payout the final fully franked dividend of $1.20 a share on 7 October. It's a bit too late to bank that passive income payout, as Wesfarmers shares traded ex-dividend on 1 September. That payout will go to investors who held the stock at market close on 31 August.
As for the dividend yield, at the recent share price of $72.60, Wesfarmers trades on a fully franked trailing dividend yield of 3.1%.
Which brings us back to our headline question.
Should I buy Wesfarmers shares for passive income?
Shaw and Partners' James Bills recently analysed the outlook for the ASX 200 stock (courtesy of The Bull).
Wesfarmers remains one of Australia's premier diversified companies," he said. "It's supported by market leading businesses, including Bunnings, Kmart and Officeworks.
Bills added:
The company's strong balance sheet, disciplined capital allocation and resilient earnings profile continue to underpin shareholder value. While growth opportunities remain available across several divisions, recent share price levels appear to reflect much of this quality.
Connecting the dots, Bills issued a hold recommendation on Wesfarmers shares:
Holding Wesfarmers remains appropriate given the company's strong market position, dependable cash generation and proven ability to create value over the long term.
What's the latest from the ASX 200 conglomerate?
Wesfarmers released its FY 2026 results on 27 August.
Highlights included a 3.4% year-on-year increase in revenue to $47.25 billion, excluding significant items.
On the bottom line, Wesfarmers achieved a statutory NPAT of $2.87 billion, up 8.3% from FY 2025.
And with profits up, so too was the passive income on offer.
Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott commented:
As a result of the increase in underlying profit, the Wesfarmers Board has determined to pay a fully-franked final dividend of $1.20 per share, bringing total fully franked ordinary dividends for the year to $2.22 per share, an increase of 7.8 per cent.
Wesfarmers shares closed down 4.6% on the day of the results release.
