Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Fastenal Company has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from 14 brokerages, with one sell rating, eight hold ratings, four buy ratings, and one strong buy rating.
• The average 12-month target price for Fastenal stock is $46.82, with notable upgrades from analysts in recent months, including a boost to $82.00 from Stifel Nicolaus.
• Fastenal reported earnings of $0.29 per share, exceeding analyst expectations and marking an 8.6% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Shares of Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.8182.

FAST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $40.00 price target on shares of Fastenal and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Baird R W raised shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $47.58 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 4.22, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.95. The company has a market cap of $54.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.75, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.97. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $34.69 and a 12 month high of $50.63.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The company's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio is presently 84.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total value of $951,760.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 10,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Lewis Soderberg sold 34,612 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $1,662,414.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,230 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,364 over the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Fastenal by 0.3% during the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 49,219 shares of the company's stock worth $3,817,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 0.4% during the first quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 32,992 shares of the company's stock worth $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Fastenal by 0.9% during the first quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 15,886 shares of the company's stock worth $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal by 1.6% during the first quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,000 shares of the company's stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Fastenal by 1.7% during the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,870 shares of the company's stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Fastenal

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.

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