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

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST – Get Rating) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $59.33.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Fastenal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Fastenal from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Fastenal from $64.00 to $66.00 in a research note on Monday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Fastenal from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 8th.

FAST stock traded up $0.63 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $58.32. The stock had a trading volume of 101,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,465,067. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.57 billion, a PE ratio of 35.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 4.19 and a quick ratio of 1.95. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.40. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $48.57 and a fifty-two week high of $64.75.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 19th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.39% and a return on equity of 31.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 1st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.02%.

In other news, Director Michael J. Ancius bought 730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $57.18 per share, with a total value of $41,741.40. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tredje AP fonden bought a new position in Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,871,000. Natixis boosted its position in Fastenal by 333.4% in the third quarter. Natixis now owns 64,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,306,000 after buying an additional 49,281 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 180.4% during the fourth quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after buying an additional 15,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ossiam increased its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 264.4% during the third quarter. Ossiam now owns 39,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,063,000 after buying an additional 29,009 shares in the last quarter. 77.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Fastenal (Get Rating)

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.

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