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Fastenal (FAST) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Fastenal (FAST - Free Report) closed at $56.58, marking a +0.6% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.37%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.32%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 1.18%.

Coming into today, shares of the maker of industrial and construction fasteners had gained 1.81% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector gained 5.52%, while the S&P 500 gained 7.18%.

Fastenal will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be July 13, 2023. On that day, Fastenal is projected to report earnings of $0.52 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 4%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.89 billion, up 6.12% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $1.98 per share and revenue of $7.35 billion. These totals would mark changes of +4.76% and +5.35%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Fastenal. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. Fastenal is holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now.

Looking at its valuation, Fastenal is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 28.36. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 12.37, which means Fastenal is trading at a premium to the group.

It is also worth noting that FAST currently has a PEG ratio of 3.15. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. FAST's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.93 as of yesterday's close.

The Building Products - Retail industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 22, putting it in the top 9% 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.

To follow FAST in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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