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Fastenal (FAST) Exceeds Market Returns: Some Facts to Consider

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Fastenal (FAST - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $75.70, demonstrating a +0.89% swing from the preceding day's closing price. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.63%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.82%.

Shares of the maker of industrial and construction fasteners witnessed a gain of 6.82% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Retail-Wholesale sector with its gain of 2.64% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.76%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Fastenal in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to be unveiled on April 11, 2024. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.53, up 1.92% from the prior-year quarter. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $1.92 billion, indicating a 3.06% upward movement from the same quarter last year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $2.15 per share and a revenue of $7.79 billion, demonstrating changes of +6.44% and +6.06%, respectively, from the preceding year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Fastenal. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.06% higher within the past month. Fastenal is currently a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Looking at its valuation, Fastenal is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 34.94. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 14.3 for its industry.

Also, we should mention that FAST has a PEG ratio of 3.88. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. FAST's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.81 as of yesterday's close.

The Building Products - Retail industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 91, which puts it in the top 37% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.


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