Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on BBSI. Roth Mkm dropped 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. Zacks Research raised Barrett Business Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Barrett Business Services from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Barrett Business Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.50.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

Shares of BBSI stock opened at $30.04 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $29.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.50. Barrett Business Services has a 1-year low of $25.33 and a 1-year high of $49.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $737.78 million, a PE ratio of 19.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is 20.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Barrett Business Services

In other news, CEO Gary Kramer bought 8,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 328,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,841,458.89. This trade represents a 2.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James R. Potts sold 1,803 shares of the company’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 $970,445.16. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Barrett Business Services

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 20.6% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,901,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $84,271,000 after purchasing an additional 324,715 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 821,045.1% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 418,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,562,000 after purchasing an additional 418,733 shares during the last quarter. Trigran Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 121.3% in the third quarter. Trigran Investments Inc. now owns 399,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,714,000 after purchasing an additional 219,049 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 193,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,994,000 after purchasing an additional 63,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during 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.