Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Separately, Barrington Research reiterated an outperform rating and set a $141.00 target price on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research report on Thursday.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

BBSI stock opened at $123.38 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $121.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.49. Barrett Business Services has a fifty-two week low of $76.22 and a fifty-two week high of $130.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $806.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.37.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by $0.29. The company had revenue of $265.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 26.72% and a net margin of 4.60%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Barrett Business Services will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Barrett Business Services’s payout ratio is currently 16.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrett Business Services

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 346,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Barrett Business Services by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 315,370 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,459,000 after buying an additional 12,997 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Barrett Business Services by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 193,903 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,454,000 after buying an additional 18,897 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 84,945 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,837,000 after buying an additional 1,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 0.4% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 53,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,867,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Barrett Business Services Company Profile

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.