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Fastenal began as a partnership in 1967, and was incorporated under the laws of Minnesota in 1968. We opened our first branch in 1967 in Winona, Minnesota, a city with a population today of approximately 26,000.
$44.51
$0.98 (-2.17%)
Live · 05:18 PM
Margins and capital returns are both well above average: 20.19% operating margin, ROIC at 29.67%. Consistent with durable pricing power, though that alone doesn't make it a buy.
Revenue grew 8.7%, steady but not accelerating.
At 38x earnings, the current multiple leaves limited room for execution misses or growth deceleration.
38.0x earnings, 44.3x FCF. Not cheap, the quality is already reflected in the price. Upside from here requires either margin expansion or growth re-acceleration, not just continuation.
Based on TTM earnings · Diluted shares
Profitability & Returns
Revenue (TTM)
$8.75B
▲ +8.7% YoY
Net Income (TTM)
$1.35B
▲ +9.4% YoY
Op. Margin
20.29%
▲ +0.2pp YoY
ROIC
30.46%
▲ +0.8pp YoY
Cash Flow & Balance Sheet
FCF (TTM)
$1.16B
▲ +11.0% YoY
Op. Cash Flow (TTM)
$1.40B
▲ +10.4% YoY
Net Debt
$237M
Cash & Equiv.
$205M
5Y CAGR: +7.7%
5Y CAGR: +2.4%
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At a P/E of 38.0 and a price-to-free-cash-flow of 44.3, Fastenal (FAST) trades above a two-stage DCF intrinsic value of about $34.51 per share, so at $44.51 the stock looks overvalued (22.5% above estimated intrinsic value). A high multiple is not the same as overvalued: fast-growing, high-quality businesses can deserve a premium. See the general approach in how to tell if a stock is overvalued.
On quality, Fastenal scores 66/100 on Intrinsiqq's quality scorecard (a solid business on these measures), weighing growth, margins, returns on capital, share count, and balance-sheet strength. It currently yields about 2.1%; see dividend safety for coverage and history. All figures are computed from SEC filings; read the full methodology. This is analysis, not investment advice.
Intrinsiqq's two-stage DCF estimates an intrinsic value of about $34.51 per share for FAST, projecting its recent free cash flow forward with a growth rate that fades toward a long-run rate and discounting it back to today. Applying a 25% margin of safety gives a more conservative fair-value entry around $25.88. At today's $44.51, that puts the stock about 22.5% above estimated intrinsic value. The result is sensitive to the growth and discount-rate inputs, so it is best to run conservative, base and optimistic cases. You can adjust all of them yourself with the sliders on the DCF tab.
Fastenal scores 66 out of 100 on Intrinsiqq's quality score, a weighted blend of 8 metrics each scored 0 to 100, which makes it a solid business on these measures. Recent fundamentals include a 20.3% operating margin and a 30.5% return on invested capital. The score weighs revenue and free-cash-flow growth, operating margins, return on invested capital, share-count change, and balance-sheet strength, all computed from SEC filings, not opinion. Because valuation only means something relative to quality, the full metric-by-metric breakdown is on the quality scorecard.
Yes, Fastenal pays a regular dividend of about $0.92 per share per year (typically in quarterly installments), a yield of roughly 2.1% at the current price. That is a payout ratio of about 78.1% of earnings, so the dividend is covered, with less cushion. Fastenal has grown the dividend at roughly 11.8% a year over the past few years. A low headline yield is not the same as a weak dividend: what matters is how well earnings and free cash flow cover the payout and whether it is growing, not the percentage alone. For FAST's full payout history, growth streak and dividend-safety score, see the dividends tab.
That depends on valuation and quality together, not either alone. FAST currently trades above its estimated intrinsic value and scores 66/100 on quality (solid). It also yields about 2.1%. A cheap price is only a bargain if the business is durable, and a premium can be justified by genuine quality, so the two questions, "is it cheap?" and "is it good?", only make sense side by side. Read the valuation against the quality scorecard, run the DCF on your own assumptions, and decide for yourself. This is analysis from SEC filings, not investment advice.