Fastenal (FAST) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.43 on February 28th

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 16th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of 0.43 per share on Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

Fastenal has increased its dividend by an average of 11.7% per year over the last three years. Fastenal has a payout ratio of 73.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Fastenal to earn $2.35 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 73.2%.

Fastenal Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of FAST stock opened at $74.79 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $42.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.21, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a 12-month low of $61.36 and a 12-month high of $84.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $77.07 and a 200-day moving average of $73.61.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other news, VP Charles S. Miller sold 23,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.92, for a total value of $1,970,441.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total value of $2,688,621.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,168,521. The trade was a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 63,772 shares of company stock valued at $5,365,455 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens increased their target price on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

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.