Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BBSI shares. Weiss Ratings raised Barrett Business Services from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Roth Capital downgraded Barrett Business Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Barrett Business Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Zacks Research cut Barrett Business Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Thursday, August 6th.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BBSI opened at $33.42 on Tuesday. Barrett Business Services has a 1 year low of $25.33 and a 1 year high of $49.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.65. The firm has a market cap of $809.93 million, a P/E ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.94.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $319.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $321.55 million. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 2.77%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Barrett Business Services will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Investors of record on Friday, August 21st will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 21st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Barrett Business Services news, Director Anthony Meeker sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.85, for a total transaction of $454,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 44,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,701,168.25. This trade represents a 21.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James R. Potts sold 3,490 shares of Barrett Business Services stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $132,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 32,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,330. This trade represents a 9.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,779 shares of company stock valued at $786,233. 4.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Barrett Business Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services in the 2nd quarter worth $72,793,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Barrett Business Services by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,053 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $71,118,000 after acquiring an additional 13,331 shares during the period. Private Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Barrett Business Services by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 999,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,187,000 after acquiring an additional 12,117 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Barrett Business Services by 3,699.9% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 909,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,316,000 after acquiring an additional 885,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 870,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,534,000 after purchasing an additional 208,865 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Barrett Business Services Company Profile

Barrett Business Services, Inc (NASDAQ: BBSI) is a professional employer organization (PEO) headquartered in Northridge, California. Founded in 1971 by Barrett K. Levesque, the company provides comprehensive human resources outsourcing solutions to small and mid-sized businesses. Through its consultative model, Barrett Business Services helps clients streamline administrative processes, mitigate regulatory risk and focus on core operations.

The company’s core offerings include payroll administration, employee benefits management, workers’ compensation and risk management services.