Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) announced its earnings results on Friday. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02), Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1,842,560.16 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. Fastenal's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 EPS.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST stock traded up $1.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.82. 5,837,094 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,140,250. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $43.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.82.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. This is a boost from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.61%.

Insider Transactions at Fastenal

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 31,818 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.50, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 10.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel L. Johnson sold 8,474 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $883,199.20. The trade was a 44.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 74,660 shares of company stock valued at $6,211,126. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FAST. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report 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 MarketBeat, Fastenal has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.