Yahoo Finance I Built A List Of Growing Companies And Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Made The Cut
Like a puppy chasing its tail, some new investors often chase 'the next big thing', even if that means buying 'story stocks' without revenue, let alone profit. Unfortunately, high risk investments often have little probability of ever paying off, and many investors pay a price to learn their lesson.
In the age of tech-stock blue-sky investing, my choice may seem old fashioned; I still prefer profitable companies like Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST). Even if the shares are fully valued today, most capitalists would recognize its profits as the demonstration of steady value generation. While a well funded company may sustain losses for years, unless its owners have an endless appetite for subsidizing the customer, it will need to generate a profit eventually, or else breathe its last breath.
See our latest analysis for Fastenal
How Quickly Is Fastenal Increasing Earnings Per Share?
If you believe that markets are even vaguely efficient, then over the long term you'd expect a company's share price to follow its earnings per share (EPS). That means EPS growth is considered a real positive by most successful long-term investors. Fastenal managed to grow EPS by 12% per year, over three years. That growth rate is fairly good, assuming the company can keep it up.
Careful consideration of revenue growth and earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margins can help inform a view on the sustainability of the recent profit growth. Fastenal maintained stable EBIT margins over the last year, all while growing revenue 5.7% to US$5.7b. That's progress.
In the chart below, you can see how the company has grown earnings, and revenue, over time. To see the actual numbers, click on the chart.
You don't drive with your eyes on the rear-view mirror, so you might be more interested in this free report showing analyst forecasts for Fastenal's future profits.
Are Fastenal Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?
Like that fresh smell in the air when the rains are coming, insider buying fills me with optimistic anticipation. That's because insider buying often indicates that those closest to the company have confidence that the share price will perform well. Of course, we can never be sure what insiders are thinking, we can only judge their actions.
While Fastenal insiders did net -US$52k selling stock over the last year, they invested US$739k, a much higher figure. You could argue that level of buying implies genuine confidence in the business. Zooming in, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Independent Director Michael Ancius for US$204k worth of shares, at about US$46.00 per share.
Along with the insider buying, another encouraging sign for Fastenal is that insiders, as a group, have a considerable shareholding. Notably, they have an enormous stake in the company, worth US$102m. This suggests to me that leadership will be very mindful of shareholders' interests when making decisions!
While insiders are apparently happy to hold and accumulate shares, that is just part of the pretty picture. The cherry on top is that the CEO, Dan Florness is paid comparatively modestly to CEOs at similar sized companies. For companies with market capitalizations over US$8.0b, like Fastenal, the median CEO pay is around US$11m.
The CEO of Fastenal only received US$2.5m in total compensation for the year ending . That's clearly well below average, so at a glance, that arrangement seems generous to shareholders, and points to a modest remuneration culture. CEO remuneration levels are not the most important metric for investors, but when the pay is modest, that does support enhanced alignment between the CEO and the ordinary shareholders. It can also be a sign of good governance, more generally.
Is Fastenal Worth Keeping An Eye On?
One positive for Fastenal is that it is growing EPS. That's nice to see. Better yet, insiders are significant shareholders, and have been buying more shares. That makes the company a prime candidate for my watchlist - and arguably a research priority. It is worth noting though that we have found 1 warning sign for Fastenal that you need to take into consideration.
There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. So if you like the sound of Fastenal, you'll probably love this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.
Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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