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. Stockholders 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 2.26%. This is a positive change from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

Fastenal has raised its dividend by an average of 11.7% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 25 consecutive years. Fastenal has a dividend payout ratio of 66.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Price Performance

FAST stock opened at $76.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $61.36 and a fifty-two week high of $84.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.93.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1,842,560.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.36, for a total value of $706,392.64. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,199.20. This represents a 44.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Rita J. Heise sold 10,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.67, for a total value of $845,670.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,553,400. This represents a 35.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,660 shares of company stock worth $6,211,126 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FAST. UBS Group assumed coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.27.

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.