Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01), RTT News reports. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.72% and a return on equity of 34.31%. The company had revenue of $1.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Fastenal Price Performance

Fastenal stock opened at $74.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $50.30 and a 52-week high of $79.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $73.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a current ratio of 4.57.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 77.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fastenal news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $832,472.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 11,076 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $832,472.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 11,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total value of $826,988.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares in the company, valued at $414,392.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 105,682 shares of company stock worth $7,375,853. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP raised its position in Fastenal by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in Fastenal by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,201,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,845,000 after acquiring an additional 156,052 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Fastenal by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,487,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,367,000 after acquiring an additional 4,510 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at $975,000. Finally, Oarsman Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Fastenal by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 7,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.20.

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.