Values First Advisors Inc. Buys New Stake in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $481,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Fastenal during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal during the third quarter worth about $27,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter worth about $36,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastenal by 54.1% in the third quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, HSBC downgraded 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fastenal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $73.68 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.02. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $75.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Fastenal will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

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.