Fastenal (FAST) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.39 on May 23rd

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 10th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.39 per share on Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th.

Fastenal has increased its dividend by an average of 11.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 25 consecutive years. Fastenal has a payout ratio of 67.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Fastenal to earn $2.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.5%.

Fastenal Trading Up 0.1 %

FAST stock opened at $67.57 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $38.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.45, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $52.28 and a twelve month high of $79.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 4.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.62 and a 200-day moving average of $66.46.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. HSBC upped their price objective on Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Daniel L. Johnson acquired 3,350 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $68.38 per share, with a total value of $229,073.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $724,486.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $832,472.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,050 shares of company stock valued at $3,411,049. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP boosted its position in Fastenal by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. O Dell Group LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in Fastenal by 131.7% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.