Yahoo Finance Here's How Much You'd Have If You Invested $1000 in Fastenal a Decade Ago
For most investors, how much a stock's price changes over time is important. Not only can it impact your investment portfolio, but it can also help you compare investment results across sectors and industries.
Another factor that can influence investors is FOMO, or the fear of missing out, especially with tech giants and popular consumer-facing stocks.
What if you'd invested in Fastenal (FAST) ten years ago? It may not have been easy to hold on to FAST for all that time, but if you did, how much would your investment be worth today?
Fastenal's Business In-Depth
With that in mind, let's take a look at Fastenal's main business drivers.
Based in Winona, MN, Fastenal Company is a national wholesale distributor of industrial and construction supplies. The company distributes its products through more than 3,200 company-owned stores, mostly located in North America.
Fastenal derives sales from the fastener product line and the other product line. The fastener product line comprises two kinds of products, threaded fasteners and miscellaneous industrial and construction supplies and hardware. Threaded fasteners include products like bolts, nuts, screws, studs and related washers, while miscellaneous industrial and construction supplies and hardware include various pins and machinery keys, concrete anchors, metal framing systems, wire rope, strut, rivets and related accessories. Threaded fasteners are used in most manufactured products and building projects, and for the maintenance and repair of machines and structures.
The other product line includes tools, cutting tools, material handling, janitorial, electrical, safety and welding supplies and many more.
Fastenal mainly serves customers in the manufacturing and non-residential construction markets. In the manufacturing market, its customers include original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and maintenance and repair operations (MRO), while in the non-residential construction market, it serves general, electrical, plumbing, sheet metal and road contractors.
Fastenal ended third-quarter 2023 with cash and cash equivalents of $297.5 million, up from $230.1 million at 2022-end. Solid cash flow enabled FAST to lower debt in the quarter. Total debt was $260 million at the end of third-quarter 2023, or 7% of total capital. This compares to $555 million, or 14.9% of total capital, in the year-ago period.
Bottom Line
Anyone can invest, but building a successful investment portfolio takes a combination of a few things: research, patience, and a little bit of risk. So, if you had invested in Fastenal a decade ago, you're probably feeling pretty good about your investment today.
A $1000 investment made in November 2013 would be worth $2,574.32, or a 157.43% gain, as of November 27, 2023, according to our calculations. Investors should note that this return excludes dividends but includes price increases.
In comparison, the S&P 500 gained 152.63% and the price of gold went up 54.01% over the same time frame.
Looking ahead, analysts are expecting more upside for FAST.
Shares of Fastenal have outperformed its industry so far this year. The company is benefiting from daily sales growth, reasonable expense control and lower net interest expense. Also, growth at Onsite locations, with active sites increasing 13.5% in the third quarter, added to the uptrend. The increased number of onsite locations is likely to expand Fastenal’s market share. The company expects 350 annual signings in 2023. Moreover, the company’s cost-control initiatives and focus on FAST Solutions bode well. Fastenal projects weighted FASTVend and FASTBin device signings within 23,000-25,000 MEUs for 2023, indicating an increase from 20,735 MEUs signed in 2022. However, higher occupancy-related expenses and stretched valuation are concerns. Earnings estimates for 2023 have remained unchanged in the past 30 days, limiting the stock's upsid
The stock has jumped 5.82% over the past four weeks. Additionally, no earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months, compared to 8 higher, for fiscal 2023; the consensus estimate has moved up as well.
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Fastenal Company (FAST) : Free Stock Analysis Report
