Fastenal Company Company Profile (NASDAQ:FAST)

Fastenal Company trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "FAST."

Fastenal Company declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 26th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share on Wednesday, August 23rd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 24th. View Fastenal Company's Dividend History.

Fastenal Company declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 12th 2017, which authorizes the company to buyback 5,000,000 outstanding shares, according to EventVestor. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July, 12th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. The firm earned $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Fastenal Company had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 26.86%. The company's revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. View Fastenal Company's Earnings History.

Fastenal Company is scheduled to release their next quarterly earnings announcement on Wednesday, October, 11th 2017. View Earnings Estimates for Fastenal Company.

15 brokers have issued twelve-month target prices for Fastenal Company's shares. Their forecasts range from $43.00 to $55.00. On average, they anticipate Fastenal Company's share price to reach $50.80 in the next twelve months. View Analyst Ratings for Fastenal Company.

Here are some recent quotes from research analysts about Fastenal Company stock:

• 1. According to Zacks Investment Research, "Fastenal is boosting sales performance at stores through additional sales support and vending machine installations. The company’s cost-saving initiative, Pathway-to-Profit, also bodes well. After a soft 2013, vending trends improved through 2014, 2015 and 2016 as management’s efforts to enhance the quality of signings/installs paid off. The company plans to continue opening stores in 2017 to sustain and improve its network and drive growth. Though, shares of Fastenal lost 7.6% year to date, estimates for the current year has been trending north in the past 60 days. However, the company’s margins continue to remain under pressure." (6/14/2017)
• 2. Credit Suisse Group analysts commented, "FAST put up a good operational Q4 beat and exceeded GM expectations which were helped by cost initiatives. However, Q4 felt fairly similar to Q3 from a demand perspective - in fact, December ADS was even shy of expectations (and so were Oct-Nov). There were areas of improvement, particularly with oil/processing customers, yet core industrial customers were largely unchanged. FAST traded up 6% on just a modest $0.02 beat which continues to reflect how the market is discounting current trends in favor of distributors' early/short cycle leverage in out years. The play here is less about fundamental EPS upside and more so where the multiple goes, in our view. In fact, our EPS est's are only increasing 2.8% and 4.7% for 2017 and 2018, respectively. Expectations are soaring, and sooner or later FAST's ADS will need to accelerate to justify its multiple. At current levels, we don't see a favorable enough risk/reward, keeping us sidelined. Our $49 TP (from $41) assumes 27x our 2018 EPS of $2.00, discounted back, and we reiterate our Neutral rating. We are raising 2017 and 2017 EPS estimates to $1.83 and $2 (from $1.78 and $1.91)." (1/19/2017)

Fastenal Company saw a increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 24,316,523 shares, an increase of 9.5% from the May 31st total of 22,207,905 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,675,651 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.6 days. Approximately 8.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Some companies that are related to Fastenal Company include Expedia (EXPE), Kroger Company (The) (KR), Ross Stores (ROST), Dollar General Corporation (DG), Tesco PLC (TSCDY), Carrefour Sa Spon (CRRFY), Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV (AHONY), O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY), Best Buy Co. (BBY), Dollar Tree (DLTR), Ulta Beauty (ULTA), Restaurant Brands International (QSR), AutoZone (AZO), Whole Foods Market (WFM), L Brands (LB), MercadoLibre (MELI), CarMax (KMX) and Tiffany & Co. (TIF).

Fastenal Company's management team includes the folowing people:

• Willard D. Oberton, Chairman of the Board
• Daniel L. Florness, President, Chief Executive Officer, Director
• Holden Lewis, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President
• William J. Drazkowski, Executive Vice President – National Accounts Sales
• Leland J. Hein Jr., Senior Executive Vice President – Sales
• James C. Jansen, Executive Vice President – Manufacturing
• Nicholas J. Lundquist, Senior Executive Vice President – Operations
• Charles S. Miller, Executive Vice President - Sales
• Terry M. Owen, Senior Executive Vice President – Sales Operations
• Gary A. Polipnick, Executive Vice President – FAST Solutions

Fastenal Company's stock is owned by a number of of institutional and retail investors. Top institutional investors include Confluence Investment Management LLC (0.82%), Riverbridge Partners LLC (0.65%), Clarkston Capital Partners LLC (0.38%), Investmentaktiengesellschaft Fuer Langfristige Investoren TGV (0.28%), Alta Capital Management LLC (0.26%) and US Bancorp DE (0.19%). Company insiders that own Fastenal Company stock include Daniel L Florness, Daniel L Johnson, Darren R Jackson, Gary A Polipnick, Holden Lewis, James C Jansen, John Lewis Soderberg, Kenneth R Nance, Leland J Hein, Michael J Ancius, Nicholas J Lundquist, Reyne K Wisecup, Sheryl Ann Lisowski, Stephen L Eastman, Terry Modock Owen, Willard D Oberton and William Joseph Drazkowski. View Institutional Ownership Trends for Fastenal Company.

Fastenal Company's stock was sold by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Strs Ohio, Russell Investments Group Ltd., Douglas Lane & Associates LLC, Dudley & Shanley LLC, Riverbridge Partners LLC, Wendell David Associates Inc., Exxonmobil Investment Management Inc. TX and Trust Co. of Vermont. Company insiders that have sold Fastenal Company stock in the last year include Leland J Hein, Reyne K Wisecup and Willard D Oberton. View Insider Buying and Selling for Fastenal Company.

Fastenal Company's stock was bought by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Confluence Investment Management LLC, Marathon Asset Management LLP, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC, US Bancorp DE, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC, Pensionfund DSM Netherlands, Cullinan Associates Inc. and Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.. Company insiders that have bought Fastenal Company stock in the last two years include Daniel L Johnson, Darren R Jackson, Holden Lewis, Michael J Ancius, Nicholas J Lundquist, Stephen L Eastman and William Joseph Drazkowski. View Insider Buying and Selling for Fastenal Company.

Shares of Fastenal Company can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages include Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Scottrade, Fidelity and Charles Schwab.

One share of Fastenal Company stock can currently be purchased for approximately $43.89.