Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01), RTT News reports. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.72% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Fastenal Stock Performance

NASDAQ FAST opened at $74.74 on Thursday. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $50.30 and a 1-year high of $79.04. The company has a market capitalization of $42.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.00, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $73.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.57 and a quick ratio of 2.27.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 77.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FAST shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.20.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In related news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total value of $1,633,607.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Fastenal news, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total transaction of $2,331,196.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,369,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total value of $1,633,607.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 105,682 shares of company stock valued at $7,375,853 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP increased its position in Fastenal by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 409 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its position in Fastenal by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,201,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,845,000 after buying an additional 156,052 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Fastenal by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,487,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,367,000 after buying an additional 4,510 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth $975,000. Finally, Oarsman Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 7,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Company Profile

Fastenal Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, North America, and internationally. It offers fasteners, and related industrial and construction supplies under the Fastenal name. The company's fastener products include threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, studs, and related washers that are used in manufactured products and construction projects, as well as in the maintenance and repair of machines.