Analysts Set Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Price Target at $76.91

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $76.91.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAST. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 481.9% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $78.01 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $44.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.11. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

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.