FY2026 EPS Estimates for Fastenal Lowered by William Blair

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) – Stock analysts at William Blair lowered their FY2026 EPS estimates for shares of Fastenal in a report issued on Wednesday, April 9th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now expects that the company will post earnings of $2.33 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $2.34. William Blair currently has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Fastenal’s current full-year earnings is $2.15 per share.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

FAST has been the topic of several other research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fastenal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST opened at $80.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. Fastenal has a 1 year low of $61.36 and a 1 year high of $84.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.33. The firm has a market cap of $46.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.12, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Fastenal by 481.9% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 611 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by 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.