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

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 10th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be paid a dividend of 0.39 per share on Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 25th.

Fastenal has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 25 consecutive years. Fastenal has a dividend payout ratio of 70.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Fastenal to earn $2.19 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 71.2%.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $75.93 on Thursday. Fastenal has a twelve month low of $56.41 and a twelve month high of $79.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.99. The company has a market capitalization of $43.47 billion, a PE ratio of 37.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 33.54%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Fastenal’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastenal will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Fastenal from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total transaction of $1,033,669.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,096 shares in the company, valued at $388,264.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Fastenal news, insider William Joseph Drazkowski sold 16,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.65, for a total value of $1,270,509.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $465,667.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheryl Ann Lisowski sold 13,567 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.19, for a total transaction of $1,033,669.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $388,264.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 179,373 shares of company stock worth $13,029,308 over the last three months. 0.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.