Brokerages Set Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Price Target at $41.50

Shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment 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 twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.50.

A number of research firms have recently commented on BBSI. CJS Securities upgraded Barrett Business Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Barrett Business Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Barrington Research decreased their price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services from $46.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Roth Mkm cut their target price on shares of Barrett Business Services from $54.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrett Business Services

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Barrett Business Services by 4.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,219 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in Barrett Business Services in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,747,000. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,732,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $454,000. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $212,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Barrett Business Services Stock Up 0.4%

BBSI stock opened at $29.22 on Tuesday. Barrett Business Services has a 52-week low of $25.33 and a 52-week high of $49.65. The firm has a market cap of $736.34 million, a P/E ratio of 13.98, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.13.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The business services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.64. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. 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.