Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) to Issue $0.39 Quarterly Dividend

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 10th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.39 per share on Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%.

Fastenal has raised its dividend by an average of 11.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 25 consecutive years. Fastenal has a dividend payout ratio of 71.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Fastenal to earn $2.19 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 71.2%.

Fastenal Stock Down 0.9 %

FAST opened at $69.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $68.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.00. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $55.42 and a twelve month high of $79.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.82, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.51. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 33.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $3,116,996.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,489,266.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down from $85.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.89.

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.