Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Barrington Research lifted their price target on Barrett Business Services from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th.

Barrett Business Services Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of BBSI stock opened at $46.41 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.95. Barrett Business Services has a 12-month low of $34.36 and a 12-month high of $48.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.02.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $307.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.95 million. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 24.59% and a net margin of 4.49%. Barrett Business Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Barrett Business Services

In related news, Director Thomas J. Carley sold 12,646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.62, for a total value of $602,202.52. Following the transaction, the director owned 94,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,509,233.04. This trade represents a 11.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Anthony Meeker sold 7,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.14, for a total transaction of $310,993.20. Following the sale, the director owned 55,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,338,938.56. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,417 shares of company stock worth $1,628,361 over the last 90 days. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrett Business Services

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Riverbridge Partners LLC bought a new stake in Barrett Business Services during the second quarter valued at about $14,792,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services in the first quarter worth about $12,999,000. Trigran Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,531,000. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,155,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,536,000. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Barrett Business Services Company Profile

Barrett Business Services, Inc provides business management solutions for small and mid-sized companies in the United States. The company develops a management platform that integrates a knowledge-based approach from the management consulting industry with tools from the human resource outsourcing industry.