Stock in Focus: Fastenal Company (FAST)

Company Profile:

Fastenal Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers fasteners, and other industrial and construction supplies under the Fastenal name. As of December 31, 2018, the company distributed its products through a network of 2,227 company owned stores. Fastenal Company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Winona, Minnesota.

Recent News:

The company reporeted net sales increased $99.3, or 7.8%, in the third quarter of 2019 when compared to the third quarter of 2018. Adjusting for the one additional selling day in the current period, daily sales increased 6.1% from the third quarter of 2019 when compared to the third quarter of 2018.

Net earnings during the third quarter of 2019 were $213.5, an increase of 8.0% when compared to the third quarter of 2018. Diluted net earnings per share were $0.37 during the third quarter of 2019 compared to $0.34 during the third quarter of 2018, an increase of 8.0%.

Its board of directors declared a dividend of $0.22 per share to be paid in cash on November 22, 2019 to shareholders of record at the close of business on October 25, 2019.

Fundamental Analysis:

Ninestocks analyzes several different financial aspects: Growth, Profitability, solvency and efficiency.

Growth – Measures the growth of both the company’s income statement and cash flow.

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Profitability – Measures the historical price movement of the stock.

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Solvency – Measures the solvency of the company based on several ratios.

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Efficiency – Measures the strength and historic growth of a company’s return on invested capital.

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Conclusion:

FAST’s strengths can be seen in its strong growth, strong profitability and robust solvency compared with its peers. Its revenue and earnings have increased over recently several years. Technical indicators signal the bullish signs, as there is a bullish crossover in Stochastic oscillator, MACD is trying to cross back up and the RSI stands at 53.47 with positive bias. We rate Fastenal Company (FAST) a STRONG BUY.