Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) to Issue $0.39 Quarterly Dividend

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 10th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a dividend of 0.39 per share on Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%.

Fastenal has raised its dividend by an average of 11.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 25 consecutive years. Fastenal has a payout ratio of 71.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Down 0.9 %

FAST opened at $69.99 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $68.53 and a 200 day moving average of $68.00. The company has a market cap of $40.08 billion, a PE ratio of 34.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 1.01. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $55.42 and a 12 month high of $79.04. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 12th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.51. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 33.54%. Fastenal’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of Fastenal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at $19,489,266.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Fastenal news, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 45,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $3,116,996.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 286,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,489,266.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel L. Florness sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.68, for a total transaction of $3,484,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 286,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,929,734.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on FAST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (down from $85.00) on shares of Fastenal in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Friday, September 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Fastenal in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.89.

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.