Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Northcoast Research

Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on FAST. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Baird R W raised shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Fastenal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $47.00 to $55.00 in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, July 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.36.

Fastenal Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:FAST opened at $49.14 on Thursday. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $32.04 and a 12 month high of $50.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.22. The firm has a market cap of $56.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.25, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.95.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 14th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.30% and a return on equity of 32.33%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 29th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 29th. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, CFO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 21,052 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.21, for a total transaction of $951,760.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 10,192 shares in the company, valued at $460,780.32. This represents a 67.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffery Michael Watts sold 48,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.05, for a total transaction of $2,341,188.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $570,834. This trade represents a 80.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,230 shares of company stock worth $5,288,364. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 103.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 149,169,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,265,119,000 after acquiring an additional 75,852,223 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 99.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 54,317,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,281,330,000 after acquiring an additional 27,107,520 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 103.4% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 45,995,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,931,830,000 after acquiring an additional 23,380,022 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 103.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,984,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,506,141,000 after acquiring an additional 18,329,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 87.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 34,851,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,463,743,000 after acquiring an additional 16,308,254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

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.