Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Receives $76.91 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $76.91.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. William Blair raised shares of Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. HSBC cut shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $310,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Fastenal by 5.1% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,662,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Fastenal by 3.2% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 199,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,232,000 after purchasing an additional 6,218 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 13.6% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 24,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 11.1% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 7,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $74.42 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The company has a market cap of $42.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.15.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is currently 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.