Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.1818.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays set a $43.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $52.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Wolfe Research decreased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of Fastenal stock opened at $44.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 4.85. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $35.31 and a 52-week high of $50.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.74 and a 200-day moving average of $44.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.89.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 32.83%. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 29th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 29th. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 87.27%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Scott Satterlee sold 15,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.19, for a total transaction of $705,449.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,209,500. This represents a 24.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Fastenal by 103.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 149,169,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,265,119,000 after purchasing an additional 75,852,223 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 99.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,317,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,281,330,000 after purchasing an additional 27,107,520 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 103.4% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 45,995,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,931,830,000 after purchasing an additional 23,380,022 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 103.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,984,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,506,141,000 after buying an additional 18,329,847 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Fastenal by 87.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 34,851,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,463,743,000 after buying an additional 16,308,254 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Fastenal

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.