Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 3,549 Shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,549 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.56% of Barrett Business Services worth $5,945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BBSI. Riverbridge Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services during the second quarter worth about $14,792,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Barrett Business Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $12,999,000. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in Barrett Business Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,747,000. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Barrett Business Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,732,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Barrett Business Services by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 184,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,599,000 after purchasing an additional 34,297 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BBSI shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut Barrett Business Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $47.00.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

Shares of BBSI opened at $40.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $45.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.57. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.18 and a 12-month high of $49.65.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $307.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.95 million. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 4.49% and a return on equity of 24.59%. Barrett Business Services’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.76%.

Insider Transactions at Barrett Business Services

In related news, COO Gerald Blotz sold 11,664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.08, for a total value of $537,477.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 197,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,097,666.56. The trade was a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Anthony Meeker sold 3,064 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.78, for a total transaction of $143,333.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 54,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,554,234.78. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 110,438 shares of company stock worth $5,296,983. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

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.