Many investors would be surprised to learn that the best performing stock since '87, with a return of 38,565 percent, not including dividends, is Fastenal (FAST), according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

Fastenal is just one of the great performing companies followed by the Investor Advisory Service. The company is a distributor of tools and hardware, and has grown from a single small-town location in Winona, MN to more than 2,500 locations in the U.S. and around the world.

Our analysts have been following the company since July 2001, in fact. In the February 2012 issue of the Investor Advisory Service, our analysts provided this update on FAST:

"Fastenal’s fourth quarter results continue to forge confidently ahead. Sales rose 22% while EPS increased 36%. For the full year, EPS grew 36% from 2010 and was 30% ahead of the pre-recession level. The company slowed the rate of new store openings as broader economic worries increased during the summer. For the year, the total number of stores increased 4.9%. Most of Fastenal’s sales growth came from enhancing the growth of its existing stores by hiring salespeople to focus on key product categories. For 2012, the number of new stores is forecasted to rise 4%-6%."

As of the February 2012 issue, the IAS analysts rated FAST a buy up to 33.