Strs Ohio Buys New Position in Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI

Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 16,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $658,000. Strs Ohio owned 0.06% of Barrett Business Services at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services during the first quarter valued at approximately $12,999,000. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services during the first quarter worth about $3,747,000. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Barrett Business Services during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,732,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 184,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,599,000 after purchasing an additional 34,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chatham Capital Group Inc. increased its stake in Barrett Business Services by 104.0% during the 1st quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 58,055 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,389,000 after acquiring an additional 29,600 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

Shares of BBSI stock opened at $46.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.97. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a one year low of $35.81 and a one year high of $49.65. The company has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.01.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.05. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 4.49% and a return on equity of 24.59%. The business had revenue of $307.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 22nd. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.76%.

Insider Activity

In other Barrett Business Services news, Director Anthony Meeker sold 3,064 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.78, for a total value of $143,333.92. Following the sale, the director directly owned 54,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,554,234.78. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Gerald Blotz sold 13,327 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total transaction of $569,196.17. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 209,096 shares in the company, valued at $8,930,490.16. The trade was a 5.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 112,101 shares of company stock worth $5,328,702 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on BBSI. Barrington Research lifted their target price on Barrett Business Services from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Barrett Business Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Barrett Business Services currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $47.00.

Barrett Business Services 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.