Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $38.07 and last traded at $38.00, with a volume of 24557 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BBSI. Barrington Research raised their price target on shares of Barrett Business Services from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $991.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.74.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $279.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $273.13 million. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 25.69% and a net margin of 4.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.08 dividend. This is a boost from Barrett Business Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is 17.58%.

Insider Transactions at Barrett Business Services

In related news, CEO Gary Kramer sold 805 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $28,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 276,831 shares in the company, valued at $9,689,085. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,133 shares of company stock worth $1,231,357. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Barrett Business Services

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 12,014.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 848 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of Barrett Business Services by 300.0% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 936 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Barrett Business Services during the third quarter worth $60,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Barrett Business Services during the first quarter worth $227,000. Finally, Aristides Capital LLC acquired a new position in Barrett Business Services in the first quarter valued at $277,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Barrett Business Services

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.