Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) announced its earnings results on Friday. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02), Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1,842,560.16 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share.

Fastenal Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of FAST stock opened at $76.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a current ratio of 4.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.00. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. 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 2.26%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FAST shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 10,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.67, for a total value of $845,670.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,553,400. This trade represents a 35.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total value of $706,392.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,199.20. This represents a 44.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.41% 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.