William Blair Analysts Lift Earnings Estimates for Fastenal

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) – Investment analysts at William Blair lifted their FY2026 earnings estimates for shares of Fastenal in a research note issued on Monday, March 10th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now forecasts that the company will earn $2.34 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate 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) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of 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 increased their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Down 3.1 %

FAST opened at $77.35 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $44.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.48, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.19.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal during the third quarter worth $988,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fastenal by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fastenal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fastenal in the third quarter worth about $655,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is an increase from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is presently 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.