The Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX:WES) share price has jumped 33.9% since the start of 2024. The Fortescue Ltd (ASX:FMG) share price is tracking 8.9% off its 52-week lows.

WES share price in focus

Founded in 1914, Wesfarmers is an Australian conglomerate headquartered in Perth. Its main operations span Australia and New Zealand and include retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety brands and products.

Wesfarmers is a bit like a publicly listed private equity company. It has a long history of buying businesses, benefitting from their cash flow, re-investing in them and then selling them for a more attractive price. A good example of this might be Coles Group, which it bought in 2007 and spun out in 2018. However, by far (over 50%) of the company’s operating profit comes from Bunnings, the #1 hardware and home improvement business in Australia. Wesfarmers originally invested in Bunnings in 1987, buying the final 52% in 1994 for $594 million.

Wesfarmers has long been considered a leading blue chip stock on the ASX and is known for paying a consistent dividend. Other household names owned by Wesfarmers include Blackwoods, Kmart, Target, Officeworks, and Priceline Pharmacy.

FMG shares

Fortescue Ltd is an iron ore production and exploration company with assets located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Perth.

Fortescue’s main operation is in iron ore production, shipping more than 190 million tonnes annually. However, Fortescue has also been ramping up exploration activities across Australia, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Kazakhstan for materials like copper, rare earths, and lithium.

WES share price valuation

One way to have a ‘quick read’ of where the WES share price is, is to study something like dividend yield through time. Remember, the dividend yield is effectively the ‘cash flow’ to a share holder, but it can fluctuate year-to-year or between payments. Currently, Wesfarmers Ltd shares have a dividend yield of around 2.48%, compared to its 5-year average of 3.24%. Put simply, WES shares are trading below their historical average dividend yield.

FMG is offering a historical dividend yield of around 9.51%, which compares to its 5-year average of 7.08%. The Rask websites offer free online investing courses, created by analysts explaining things like Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) and Dividend Discount Models (DDM). They even include free valuation spreadsheets. Both of these models would be a better way to value the FMG share price.