Piper Jaffray Reiterates Overweight On Fastenal (FAST)

Piper Jaffray is reiterating its Overweight rating and $63 price target on shares of Fastenal Company

, as it looks to report earnings on October 12. In the research report, Piper Jaffray writes, "Fastenal 3Q results due October 12th should reflect sales promotions which concluded this week, and were successful on a national level in our view based on recent checks. The successful promos likely support top-line results slightly higher than our above consensus $600 million estimate. While street consensus EPS estimates have recently risen to our $0.50 estimate, somewhat limiting upside, we still believe Fastenal has done well controlling operating expenses, as monthly FTE personnel increases remain in line with historical trends, while daily sales have trended better than normal this year, creating the potential for some 3Q EPS upside." Shares of Fastenal closed at $53.38 on Friday, a gain of 19 cents or 0.36%.