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Fastenal (FAST) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
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Fastenal (FAST - Free Report) closed at $44.33 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.68% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.27%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.18%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.87%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of industrial and construction fasteners had lost 8.29% over the past month. This has lagged the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 2.76% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.37% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from FAST as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 13, 2020. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.37, unchanged from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.41 billion, up 2.44% from the year-ago period.
FAST's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $1.46 per share and revenue of $5.61 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +5.8% and +5.21%, respectively.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for FAST should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.41% higher within the past month. FAST is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, FAST is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 30.16. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 17.87, which means FAST is trading at a premium to the group.
Also, we should mention that FAST has a PEG ratio of 3.35. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Building Products - Retail was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.19 at yesterday's closing price.
The Building Products - Retail industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 30, putting it in the top 12% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Fastenal (FAST) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
Fastenal (FAST - Free Report) closed at $44.33 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.68% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.27%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 1.18%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 1.87%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of industrial and construction fasteners had lost 8.29% over the past month. This has lagged the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 2.76% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.37% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from FAST as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 13, 2020. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.37, unchanged from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.41 billion, up 2.44% from the year-ago period.
FAST's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $1.46 per share and revenue of $5.61 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +5.8% and +5.21%, respectively.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for FAST should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.41% higher within the past month. FAST is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, FAST is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 30.16. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 17.87, which means FAST is trading at a premium to the group.
Also, we should mention that FAST has a PEG ratio of 3.35. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Building Products - Retail was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.19 at yesterday's closing price.
The Building Products - Retail industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 30, putting it in the top 12% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.