GSA Capital Partners LLP Makes New Investment in Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI

GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 24,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $881,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBSI. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Barrett Business Services by 63.0% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Barrett Business Services in the third quarter valued at about $54,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in Barrett Business Services in the third quarter valued at about $66,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 270.2% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

BBSI stock opened at $31.52 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $774.13 million, a PE ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.97. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.33 and a 12 month high of $49.65.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $307.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.68 million. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 22.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBSI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Barrett Business Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on Barrett Business Services from $54.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Barrett Business Services from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised Barrett Business Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Barrett Business Services

In related news, CEO Gary Kramer purchased 8,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.89 per share, with a total value of $225,069.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 328,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,841,458.89. This represents a 2.61% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James R. Potts sold 1,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.68, for a total value of $51,710.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 33,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $970,445.16. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Barrett Business Services 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.