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

Shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.50.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BBSI shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Monday, December 29th. Roth Mkm lowered their target price on Barrett Business Services from $54.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research downgraded Barrett Business Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Barrington Research lowered their target price on Barrett Business Services from $46.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 26th.

Insider Transactions at Barrett Business Services

In other Barrett Business Services news, EVP James R. Potts sold 1,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 33,837 shares in the company, valued at $970,445.16. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary Kramer bought 8,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.89 per share, for a total transaction of $225,069.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 328,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,841,458.89. This represents a 2.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new position in Barrett Business Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services in the fourth quarter worth about $708,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Barrett Business Services by 479.5% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,022 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 9,120 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services in the fourth quarter worth about $848,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Barrett Business Services by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 821,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,749,000 after buying an additional 109,069 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Barrett Business Services Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of BBSI stock opened at $30.26 on Wednesday. Barrett Business Services has a 1-year low of $25.33 and a 1-year high of $49.65. The company has a market capitalization of $762.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.86.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The business services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 4.39%.The business had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. Barrett Business Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Barrett Business Services will post 1.86 EPS for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Barrett Business Services’s payout ratio is 15.31%.

About Barrett Business Services

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.