Fastenal Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.39 (NASDAQ:FAST)

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 10th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.39 per share on Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th.

Fastenal has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 25 years. Fastenal has a dividend payout ratio of 67.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Fastenal to earn $2.31 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 67.5%.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST stock opened at $67.45 on Tuesday. Fastenal has a fifty-two week low of $52.28 and a fifty-two week high of $79.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a current ratio of 4.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.55.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.01). Fastenal had a return on equity of 33.98% and a net margin of 15.68%. The business had revenue of $1.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Fastenal’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fastenal

In other Fastenal news, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 11,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total value of $826,988.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $414,392.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Daniel L. Johnson purchased 3,350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $68.38 per share, with a total value of $229,073.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,486.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 11,968 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.10, for a total value of $826,988.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $414,392.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,050 shares of company stock valued at $3,411,049. 0.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Fastenal from $77.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Fastenal from $71.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Fastenal from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on Fastenal from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.67.

Fastenal Company Profile

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.