Fastenal (FAST) Scheduled to Post Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) will announce its earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, April 11th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.53 per share for the quarter. Investors that wish to register for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. Fastenal had a return on equity of 34.31% and a net margin of 15.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect Fastenal to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $76.35 on Thursday. Fastenal has a 1-year low of $50.30 and a 1-year high of $79.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 4.57 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.87. The company has a market capitalization of $43.69 billion, a PE ratio of 37.93, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.05.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 1st were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 31st. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,590 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.25, for a total transaction of $1,633,607.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,590 shares of the business’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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Reyne K. Wisecup sold 34,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.48, for a total value of $2,331,196.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,369,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 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.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP increased its stake in Fastenal by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 409 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Fastenal by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 48,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,317,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC increased its stake in Fastenal by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 18,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,214,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Fastenal by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 3,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. 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.