Cantillon Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Cantillon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,931,928 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,254 shares during the quarter. Fastenal accounts for 2.1% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Cantillon Capital Management LLC owned 0.86% of Fastenal worth $354,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at $27,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter valued at $68,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on FAST. UBS Group began coverage on Fastenal in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $88.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Fastenal from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, HSBC cut Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.91.

Fastenal Trading Up 2.2 %

FAST opened at $75.73 on Friday. Fastenal has a 12 month low of $61.36 and a 12 month high of $84.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.68, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 4.67 and a quick ratio of 2.28. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $74.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.66.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Fastenal had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 15.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Fastenal will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.