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

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.50.

BBSI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective on Barrett Business Services from $54.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Barrett Business Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research raised Barrett Business Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Barrett Business Services from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday.

Barrett Business Services Stock Up 1.7%

BBSI opened at $34.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $843.39 million, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $30.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.84. Barrett Business Services has a 12-month low of $25.33 and a 12-month high of $49.65.

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

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.78%.

Insider Activity at Barrett Business Services

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

Institutional Trading of Barrett Business Services

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Barrett Business Services in the 1st quarter valued at $8,316,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Barrett Business Services by 114.2% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 75,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,192,000 after buying an additional 40,052 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Barrett Business Services by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 639,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,660,000 after buying an additional 8,600 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Barrett Business Services by 102.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 168,356 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,913,000 after buying an additional 85,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Barrett Business Services by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 661,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,295,000 after buying an additional 25,221 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

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.