Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) vs. NPK International (NYSE:NPKI) Head to Head Contrast

NPK International (NYSE:NPKI) and Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for NPK International and Fastenal, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NPK International	0	1	2	0	2.67
Fastenal	2	5	6	0	2.31

NPK International currently has a consensus price target of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 38.24%. Fastenal has a consensus price target of $49.50, indicating a potential downside of 0.28%. Given NPK International’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe NPK International is more favorable than Fastenal.

Risk & Volatility

NPK International has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fastenal has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

80.8% of NPK International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.4% of Fastenal shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.2% of NPK International shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Fastenal shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares NPK International and Fastenal”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NPK International	$300.69 million	3.68	$38.94 million	$0.50	26.04
Fastenal	$8.75 billion	6.51	$1.26 billion	$1.18	42.07

Fastenal has higher revenue and earnings than NPK International. NPK International is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fastenal, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares NPK International and Fastenal’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NPK International	14.19%	11.31%	9.24%
Fastenal	15.45%	34.03%	26.16%

Summary

Fastenal beats NPK International on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NPK International

NPK International Inc. provides products, rentals, and services primarily to the oil and natural gas exploration and production (E&P) industry. It operates through two segments, Fluids Systems and Industrial Solutions. The Fluids Systems segment provides drilling, completion, and stimulation fluids products and related technical services to customers primarily in the North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as other countries in the Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Industrial Solutions segment offers composite matting system rentals utilized for temporary worksite access; related site construction and services to customers in various markets, including power transmission, E&P, pipeline, renewable energy, petrochemical, construction, and other industries primarily in the United States and Europe; recyclable composite mats to customers worldwide; and access road construction, site planning and preparation, environmental protection, erosion control, and site restoration services. The company was formerly known as Newpark Resources, Inc. and changed its name to NPK International Inc. in December 2024. The company was incorporated in 1932 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.

About Fastenal

Fastenal Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, North America, and internationally. It offers fasteners, and related industrial and construction supplies under the Fastenal name. The company’s fastener products include threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, studs, and related washers that are used in manufactured products and construction projects, as well as in the maintenance and repair of machines. It also offers miscellaneous supplies and hardware, including pins, machinery keys, concrete anchors, metal framing systems, wire ropes, strut products, rivets, and related accessories. The company serves the manufacturing market comprising original equipment manufacturers; maintenance, repair, and operations customers; non-residential construction market; farmers, truckers, railroads, mining companies, schools, and retail trades; and oil exploration, production, and refinement companies, as well as federal, state, and local governmental entities. Fastenal Company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Winona, Minnesota.