FY2026 EPS Estimates for Fastenal Decreased by William Blair

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) – Analysts at William Blair reduced their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Fastenal in a report released on Wednesday, April 9th. William Blair analyst R. Merkel now anticipates that the company will earn $2.33 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.34. 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 earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.25% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company had revenue of $1.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in 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 research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded Fastenal from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.91.

Fastenal Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FAST opened at $80.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $75.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.33. Fastenal has a 52-week low of $61.36 and a 52-week high of $84.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.28, a current ratio of 4.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Fastenal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from Fastenal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Fastenal by 481.9% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Fastenal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Fastenal during the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.