Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $49.7692.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Fastenal from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $44.20 on Friday. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $38.97 and a fifty-two week high of $50.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.83. The company has a market cap of $50.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.77, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 13th. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.30. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.39% and a return on equity of 33.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 28th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 28th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.21%.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 36,920 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.34, for a total value of $1,747,792.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 40,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,893,600. This represents a 48.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter valued at $646,046,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 243.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,095,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,380,000 after buying an additional 8,574,208 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 106.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 15,431,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $648,118,000 after buying an additional 7,943,217 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,515,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,430,322,000 after buying an additional 2,346,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Fastenal by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,215,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $893,307,000 after buying an additional 2,242,116 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) is a wholesale distributor of industrial and construction supplies, best known for its broad assortment of fasteners such as bolts, nuts, screws and anchors. Founded in Winona, Minnesota, Fastenal has grown from a regional supplier into a national and international distributor serving a wide range of end markets, including manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), and government customers. The company is publicly traded and operates through a network of locally staffed branches combined with national distribution capabilities.

Product offerings extend beyond fasteners to include tools, safety and personal protective equipment, power transmission components, cutting and welding supplies, janitorial and material handling items, and other industrial consumables.