Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday. The company traded as high as $53.70 and last traded at $53.1690, with a volume of 330,364 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $52.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAST has been the topic of several research reports. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fastenal in a report on Friday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Fastenal from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $55.00 price objective on Fastenal and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $51.00 price target on Fastenal and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.46.

Fastenal Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $60.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.14. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 3.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 35.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Fastenal Company will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 83.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rita J. Heise sold 34,964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total value of $1,749,948.20. Following the sale, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,001,000. The trade was a 63.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastenal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super increased its stake in shares of Fastenal by 29.2% in the third quarter. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super now owns 760,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,691,000 after buying an additional 171,906 shares in the last quarter. GRIMES & Co WEALTH MANAGEMENT LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,414,000. Next Level Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter valued at $121,000. Summit Wealth Group LLC Co. bought a new stake in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,068,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 2,320,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,130,000 after purchasing an additional 12,378 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Fastenal

Fastenal Company is a distributor of industrial and construction supplies headquartered in Winona, Minnesota. Founded in 1967, the company primarily serves businesses that require products for manufacturing, construction, maintenance, repair and operations.

Its product range includes threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, industrial and safety supplies, tools, electrical and plumbing products, material-handling equipment, and other related items. Fastenal also provides inventory-management solutions, including automated vending machines, customer-specific inventory programs and onsite services designed to improve product availability and purchasing efficiency.

Fastenal serves customers through a network of locations and sales channels across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and parts of Asia.