Michael Ancius, a director at
Fastenal (FAST), recently bought 500 shares. The buy increased his holdings by 1 percent, and came to a total cost of $28,765.
This is the first insider buy of the year. Several insiders were buyers last year, including multiple directors, an EVP, and the company CEO. This year has seen a number of sellers, mostly following the exercise of stock options.
Overall, company insiders own 0.2 percent of shares.
The industrial supply distributor is up slightly more than the S&P 500 this year. And amid fears of a slowing economy, revenue and earnings growth rose by low-single-digit rates.
Fastenal can likely benefit from a construction boom underway, amid strong demand for housing and a tight supply, as well as the construction boom in sunbelt states.
Action to take: Shares are a bit pricey at about 28 times forward earnings, so interested investors may want to wait for a pullback in shares before buying.
Fastenal is a dividend payer, with a current yield of about 2.4 percent, and a history of increasing that payout over time.
For traders, the long-term uptrend in shares is likely to continue. The November $60 calls, last going for about $1.80, could see mid-double-digit returns in the coming months on a further rally for Fastenal.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.