Aug 15 (Reuters) - U.S. retailer Walmart ( WMT ) raised

its annual profit forecast on Thursday for the second time this

year, as Americans kept flocking to its stores for inexpensive

everyday essentials and as it sold more higher-margin ads to

product companies.

The retail bellwether forecast annual adjusted profit per

share to be between $2.35 and $2.43, compared with its prior

expectations to potentially better or be at the high end of a

range of $2.23 to $2.37 per share.