Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $76.91.

FAST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $74.42 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.23.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $522,558,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Fastenal by 100.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,081,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,600,000 after buying an additional 1,547,319 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $101,183,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 301.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,478,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,110,445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.