Polymer Capital Management US LLC Makes New $433,000 Investment in Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 6,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $433,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,300,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,199,150,000 after acquiring an additional 592,583 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Fastenal by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,765,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,214,000 after buying an additional 886,999 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,918,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,214,002,000 after purchasing an additional 234,713 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth $522,558,000. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fastenal by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,931,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,655,000 after purchasing an additional 26,254 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fastenal Price Performance

Shares of FAST opened at $74.42 on Monday. Fastenal has a one year low of $61.36 and a one year high of $84.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $75.48 and its 200-day moving average is $76.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 4.67.

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

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Fastenal’s payout ratio is 85.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on FAST. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Fastenal from $86.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC lowered shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Fastenal from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair raised Fastenal from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fastenal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.91.

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.