William Blair Brokers Boost Earnings Estimates for Fastenal

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at William Blair lifted their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for Fastenal in a research note issued to investors on Monday, March 10th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now anticipates that the company will earn $2.34 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $2.31. William Blair currently has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Fastenal's current full-year earnings is $2.15 per share.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. Fastenal's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on FAST. HSBC downgraded shares of Fastenal from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group began coverage on Fastenal in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research upped their price target on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $76.91.

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Fastenal Stock Down 0.2 %

FAST stock opened at $79.80 on Tuesday. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $61.36 and a twelve month high of $84.88. 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 company has a market cap of $45.76 billion, a PE ratio of 39.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $74.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.13.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is an increase from Fastenal's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Fastenal's payout ratio is presently 85.57%.

Institutional Trading of Fastenal

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Fastenal by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,300,792 shares of the company's stock worth $5,199,150,000 after acquiring an additional 592,583 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Fastenal by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,989,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,999,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346,863 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after buying an additional 886,999 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,918,464 shares of the company's stock worth $1,214,002,000 after buying an additional 234,713 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Fastenal by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,275,793 shares of the company's stock worth $595,112,000 after buying an additional 74,903 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

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.

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