Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ:FAST) saw a downside of -0.60% to close Tuesday at $54.46 after subtracting -$0.33 on the day. The 5-day average trading volume is 2,352,280 shares of the company’s common stock. It has gained $55.27 in the past week and touched a new high 1 time within the past 5 days. An average of 2,710,435 shares of the company has been traded in the last 20 days, and the 50-day average volume stands at 2,797,012.
FAST’s 1-month performance is -4.72% or -$2.70 on its low of $53.83 reached on 09/21/23. The company’s shares have touched a 52-week low of $43.73 and high of $59.43, with the stock’s rally to the 52-week high happening on 07/12/23. YTD, FAST has achieved 15.09% or $7.14 and has reached a new high 24 times. However, the current price is down -8.36% from the 52-week high price.
Insider Transactions
FAST stock investors last saw insider trading activity on Aug 21.WISECUP REYNE K (Director) most recently sold 19,564 shares at $56.78 per share on Aug 21. This transaction cost the insider $1,110,912. CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, Owen Terry Modock, sold 20,000 shares at a price of $56.15 on Jun 13. Then, on May 12, EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT Drazkowski William Joseph sold 624 shares at a price of $54.70 per share. This transaction amounted to $34,134.
Valuation Metrics
FAST stock has a beta of 1.15. Moving on to other valuation ratios, the trailing price-to-sales (P/S) ratio is 4.30 while the price-to-book (PB) in the most recent quarter is 9.20, with the price to cash flow ratio at 29.08.
Fastenal Co.’s quick ratio for the period ended June 29 was 2.13, with the current ratio over the same period at 4.26. As well, the company’s long term debt to equity for the quarter ending June 29 was 0.11, while the total debt to equity was 0.18.. In terms of profitability, the gross margin trailing 12 months is 43.30%. The trailing 12-month EBITDA margin is 23.35% while for the period ending June 29, Fastenal Co.’s operating margin was 20.72%. The firm’s gross profit as reported stood at $3.22 billion against revenue of $6.98 billion.
Earnings Surprise
For the quarterly period ending June 29 this year, Net income and sales went up compared to those figures reported in the previous quarter. Net income grew 3.66% to $298.0 million, while revenue of $295.1 million was 0.97% off the previous quarter. Analysts expected FAST to announce $0.53 per share in earnings in its latest quarter, but it posted $0.52, representing a -1.90% surprise. EBITDA for the quarter stood at more than $439.8 million. FAST stock balance sheet for the quarter ending June 29 shows that total liabilities totaled 1.2 billion, with total debt at $618.4 million. Shareholders hold equity totaling $571.33 million.
Let’s look briefly at Fastenal Co. (FAST) price momentum from a technical analysis perspective. The 9-day relative strength index as at close on 26 September was 38.69% to suggest the stock is trending Neutral, with historical volatility in this time period at 9.85%.
The stock’s 5-day moving average is $54.37, reflecting a -0.62% or -$0.34 change from its current price. FAST is currently trading -5.01% above its 20-day SMA, +0.70% above its 100-day SMA. However, the stock’s current price level is away from the SMA50 by -4.92% and SMA200 by+8.38%.
Stochastic %K and %D was 27.89% and 17.54% and the average true range (ATR) pointed at 0.75. The RSI (14) points at 38.67%, while the 14-day stochastic is at 34.62% with the period’s ATR at 0.79. The stock’s 9-day MACD Oscillator is pointing at -0.13 and -0.17 on the 14-day charts.
Analyst Ratings
In the most recent analyst report for Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ: FAST), HSBC Securities launched coverage with a Hold rating. Analysts offering their rating for FAST stock have a consensus rating for the stock as Hold. Currently, 3 brokerage advisors rate FAST as a “sell,”, while 12 advise that investors “Hold.” 2 analysts have rated the stock as underweight. 0 rates the stock as overweight while 1 have offered a “buy” rating.
What is FAST’s price target for the next 12 months?
Analysts have a consensus price target ranging from a low of $50.00 and a high of $61.30, with their median price target at $56.00. Looking at these predictions, the average price target given by analysts is for Fastenal Co. (FAST) stock is $56.72.
