Gary Kramer Purchases 8,370 Shares of Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Stock

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) CEO Gary Kramer bought 8,370 shares of Barrett Business Services stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 328,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,841,458.89. The trade was a 2.61% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BBSI opened at $28.54 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.89. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a one year low of $25.33 and a one year high of $49.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $719.21 million, a PE ratio of 13.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.02.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.40 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrett Business Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Barrett Business Services by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,053 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $71,118,000 after buying an additional 13,331 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,901,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $84,271,000 after acquiring an additional 324,715 shares during the period. Private Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 999,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,187,000 after acquiring an additional 12,117 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 870,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,534,000 after acquiring an additional 208,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Barrett Business Services by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 821,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,749,000 after acquiring an additional 109,069 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BBSI. Barrington Research dropped their price objective 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. Roth Mkm decreased 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. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. CJS Securities raised shares of Barrett Business Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.50.

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.