With its shares down some 34% on the year to date, Walmart (WMT) - Get Report , the world's largest retailer, owns the title of 2015's worst-performing stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) -- exceeding next-worst Caterpillar's (CAT) - Get Report 24% decline by ten percentage points. But ahead of its third-quarter earnings results Tuesday, there are tons of reasons to expect the stock will climb higher again in the quarters and years ahead.

For the quarter that ended in October, analysts' average earnings estimate is for 98 cents a share on revenue of $118 billion, compared to the year-ago quarter, when the company earned $1.15 a share on revenue of $119 billion. For the full year ending in January, earnings are projected to decline 11% to $4.51 a share, while revenue of $485 billion would be flat.

No, Walmart is not going to impress investors with breathtaking growth, especially in a retail era dominated by Amazon (AMZN) - Get Report . But the Bentonville, Ark.-based company is resetting its business to better compete with Amazon and its fellows not just in e-commerce, but also in the overall shopping experience. This include plans to give customers the option of ordering merchandise online and picking it up in stores. This will let Walmart leverage its massive brick-and-mortar component into e-commerce fulfillment centers, of sorts.

The desired results, including higher sales and profit margins, won't be realized overnight. Nor has Walmart promised immediate results from its maneuvers. But at around $56 per share -- and just 12 times fiscal 2015 earnings estimates of $4.51 -- the stock looks attractive for the long term, especially when factoring in its 59-cent quarterly dividend, which now yields 3.36% annually. That's almost 1.5 percentage points higher than the average for the S&P 500 (SPX) index.

What's more, based on fiscal 2017 estimates of $4.18, Walmart shares are priced at just 13 times forward earnings, or four points below the forward P/E of the S&P 500 index. In other words, Walmart, which has a consensus hold rating, is priced for little to no growth in the quarters and years ahead. But that, too, is an attractive quality.

With expectations so low, Walmart should have an easier time beating its upcoming quarterly estimates, especially as it adjusts to the higher wage costs resulting from its decision earlier this year to raise its entry-level pay to $9 an hour. But paying store workers better has proven to be a great strategy for its competitor Costco (COST) - Get Report . And to the extent higher wages help Walmart retain higher-quality  workers and reduce overall employee turnover, the investment could pay off. And so could an investment today in Walmart stock.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.