Fastenal - FAST Stock Forecast, Price & News

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, which are used in manufactured products and construction projects, as well as in the maintenance and repair of machines. It also offers miscellaneous supplies and hardware, including pins, machinery keys, concrete anchors, metal framing systems, wire ropes, strut products, rivets, and related accessories. The company serves the manufacturing market comprising original equipment manufacturers; maintenance, repair, and operations; and non-residential construction market, which includes general, electrical, plumbing, sheet metal, and road contractors. It also serves farmers, truckers, railroads, mining companies, schools, and retail trades; and oil exploration, production, and refinement companies, as well as federal, state, and local governmental entities. The company distributes its products through a network of 3,209 in-market locations and 15 distribution centers. Fastenal Company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Winona, Minnesota.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Fastenal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $48.00 to $42.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Fastenal from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $48.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 14th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 14th. Finally, Argus decreased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $66.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.86.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $55.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.07 billion, a PE ratio of 31.17, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $50.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 3.71. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $45.68 and a twelve month high of $64.75.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 13th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The firm had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 27th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 26th. Fastenal's payout ratio is presently 69.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,136 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.90, for a total value of $1,293,302.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $419,250. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,136 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.90, for a total value of $1,293,302.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $419,250. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski purchased 1,058 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.63 per share, for a total transaction of $49,334.54. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at $237,626.48. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 2,736 shares of company stock valued at $131,599 over the last 90 days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.