Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Barrington Research

Barrington Research restated their outperform rating on shares of Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Barrington Research currently has a $41.00 price target on the business services provider’s stock.

BBSI has been the topic of several other reports. Zacks Research cut Barrett Business Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Roth Mkm cut their price objective on Barrett Business Services from $54.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

NASDAQ BBSI opened at $30.51 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $749.33 million, a PE ratio of 14.60, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.99. Barrett Business Services has a 1 year low of $25.33 and a 1 year high of $49.65. The business’s 50-day moving average is $29.29 and its 200 day moving average is $34.47.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The business services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.64. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.43 million. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 4.39%.Barrett Business Services’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services will post 1.86 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, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Barrett Business Services’s payout ratio is presently 15.31%.

Insider Activity at Barrett Business Services

In other news, EVP James R. Potts sold 1,803 shares of Barrett Business Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.68, for a total transaction of $51,710.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 33,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $970,445.16. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Gary Kramer bought 8,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owned 328,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,841,458.89. The trade was a 2.61% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrett Business Services

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 20.6% during 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. lifted its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 821,045.1% during 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. raised its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 121.3% in the 3rd quarter. Trigran Investments Inc. now owns 399,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,714,000 after acquiring an additional 219,049 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 193,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,994,000 after acquiring an additional 63,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,087 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,910,000 after acquiring an additional 13,886 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.