Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $76.91.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FAST. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $522,558,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Fastenal by 100.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,081,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,547,319 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at $101,183,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after buying an additional 1,346,863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Fastenal by 301.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,478,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110,445 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $76.17 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.98. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.57%.

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.