Boston, MA 07/11/2013 (wallstreetpr) – In the recently announced second quarter earnings report for the fiscal year 2013, Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) reported an earnings growth of 7.7 percent, primarily due to the increase in sales and profit margins. The company also commented that sales, which were actually lower than expectations, declined because of the economic uncertainty prevailing in the United States. In the recent quarters, the company involved in the manufacture and sales of tools, fasteners and other commercial and industrial supplies faced downturn in its sales growth momentum. The demand for the company’s products has been stagnant, especially in the non-residential construction and the industrial markets.
For the second quarter, the company reported earnings at $121 million or 41 cents per share, an increase over the earnings of the previous year for the same quarter at $112.3 million or 38 cents per share. Sales increased over the previous year by around 5.3 percent to $847.6 million, whereas gross profit margin for the company increased from 51.6 to 52.2 percent. As of June 30, 2013, the company had around 2,677 stores located throughout the country, recording an increase of 1.6 percent over the previous year.
Fastenal Company’s (NASDAQ:FAST) share price declined by 2.82 percent on Wednesday closing at $45.77 per share for the day. Intraday prices for the stock touched a low of $44.90 and a high of $46.83 per share. Trading volume stood at 5.17 million shares of the company on Wednesday while on average, 1.74 million shares are traded per day.
Fastenal Company (NASDAQ:FAST) currently has a 52 week low price at $39.17 and a 52 week high price at $53.38 per share. The market cap is $13.58 billion with 196.69 million shares outstanding and 82 percent institutional ownership.
