FAST (Fastenal Co) PE Ratio (TTM) : 39.52 (As of Dec. 11, 2024)

Fastenal Co PE Ratio (TTM) Chart

Fastenal Co Annual Data
	Trend	Dec14	Dec15	Dec16	Dec17	Dec18	Dec19	Dec20	Dec21	Dec22	Dec23
PE Ratio (TTM)		Get a 7-Day Free Trial					26.78	32.77	40.04	25.04	32.06

Fastenal Co Quarterly Data
	Dec19	Mar20	Jun20	Sep20	Dec20	Mar21	Jun21	Sep21	Dec21	Mar22	Jun22	Sep22	Dec22	Mar23	Jun23	Sep23	Dec23	Mar24	Jun24	Sep24
PE Ratio (TTM)	Get a 7-Day Free Trial															27.46	32.06	38.19	31.26	35.53

Competitive Comparison of Fastenal Co's PE Ratio (TTM)

For the Industrial Distribution subindustry, Fastenal Co's PE Ratio (TTM), along with its competitors' market caps and PE Ratio (TTM) data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.

Fastenal Co's PE Ratio (TTM) Distribution in the Industrial Distribution Industry

For the Industrial Distribution industry and Industrials sector, Fastenal Co's PE Ratio (TTM) distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Fastenal Co's PE Ratio (TTM) falls into.

Fastenal Co PE Ratio (TTM) Calculation

The PE Ratio (TTM), or Price-to-Earnings ratio, or P/E Ratio, is a financial ratio used to compare a company's market price to its Earnings per Share (Diluted). It is the most widely used ratio in the valuation of stocks.

Fastenal Co's PE Ratio (TTM) for today is calculated as

Fastenal Co's Share Price of today is $79.435.
Fastenal Co's Earnings per Share (Diluted) for the trailing twelve months (TTM) ended in Sep. 2024 adds up the quarterly data reported by the company within the most recent 12 months, which was $2.01.

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

It can also be calculated from the numbers for the whole company:

There are at least three kinds of PE Ratio (TTM)s used by different investors. They are Trailing Twelve Month PE Ratio (TTM) or PE Ratio (TTM) (TTM), Forward PE Ratio, or PE Ratio without NRI. A new PE Ratio (TTM) based on inflation-adjusted normalized PE Ratio (TTM) is called Shiller PE Ratio, after Yale professor Robert Shiller.

In the calculation of PE Ratio (TTM), the earnings per share used are the earnings per share over the past 12 months. For Forward PE Ratio, the earnings are the expected earnings for the next twelve months. In the case of PE Ratio without NRI, the reported earnings less the non-recurring items are used.

For Shiller PE Ratio, the earnings of the past 10 years are inflation-adjusted and averaged. Since it looks at the average over the last 10 years, Shiller PE Ratio is also called PE10.

Fastenal Co  (NAS:FAST) PE Ratio (TTM) Explanation

The PE Ratio (TTM) can be viewed as the number of years it takes for the company to earn back the price you pay for the stock. For example, if a company earns $2 a share per year, and the stock is traded at $30, the PE Ratio (TTM) is 15. Therefore it takes 15 years for the company to earn back the $30 you paid for its stock, assuming the earnings stays constant over the next 15 years.

In real business, earnings never stay constant. If a company can grow its earnings, it takes fewer years for the company to earn back the price you pay for the stock. If a company's earnings decline it takes more years. As a shareholder, you want the company to earn back the price you pay as soon as possible. Therefore, lower P/E stocks are more attractive than higher P/E stocks so long as the PE Ratio (TTM) is positive. Also for stocks with the same PE Ratio (TTM), the one with faster growth business is more attractive.

If a company loses money, the PE Ratio (TTM) becomes meaningless.

To compare stocks with different growth rates, Peter Lynch invented a ratio called PEG Ratio. PEG Ratio is defined as the PE Ratio (TTM) divided by the growth ratio. He thinks a company with a PE Ratio (TTM) equal to its growth rate is fairly valued. Still he said he would rather buy a company growing 20% a year with a PE Ratio (TTM) of 20, instead of a company growing 10% a year with a PE Ratio (TTM) of 10.

Because the PE Ratio (TTM) measures how long it takes to earn back the price you pay, the PE Ratio (TTM) can be applied to the stocks across different industries. That is why it is the one of the most important and widely used indicators for the valuation of stocks.

Similar to the PE Ratio without NRI or PS Ratio or Price-to-Operating-Cash-Flow or Price-to-Free-Cash-Flow , the PE Ratio (TTM) measures the valuation based on the earning power of the company. This is where it is different from the PB Ratio , which measures the valuation based on the company's balance sheet.

Be Aware

Investors need to be aware that the PE Ratio (TTM) can be misleading a lot of times, especially when the underlying business is cyclical and unpredictable. As Peter Lynch pointed out, cyclical businesses have higher profit margins at the peaks of the business cycles. Their earnings are high and PE Ratio (TTM)s are artificially low. It is usually a bad idea to buy a cyclical business when the PE Ratio (TTM) is low. A better ratio to identify the time to buy a cyclical businesses is the PS Ratio .

PE Ratio (TTM) can also be affected by non-recurring-items such as the sale of part of businesses. This may increase for the current year or quarter dramatically. But it cannot be repeated over and over. Therefore PE Ratio without NRI is a more accurate indication of valuation than PE Ratio (TTM).

Fastenal Co PE Ratio (TTM) Related Terms

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Fastenal Co Business Description