Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $41.50.

A number of research analysts recently commented on BBSI shares. Barrington Research decreased their price target on shares of 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. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Monday, December 29th. Roth Mkm decreased their target price 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, CJS Securities upgraded Barrett Business Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Barrett Business Services

In other Barrett Business Services news, CEO Gary Kramer bought 8,370 shares of Barrett Business Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.89 per share, with a total value of $225,069.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 328,801 shares in the company, valued at $8,841,458.89. The trade was a 2.61% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP James R. Potts sold 1,803 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 33,837 shares in the company, valued at $970,445.16. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Barrett Business Services

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.0% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 45,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,037,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Barrett Business Services by 2.9% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 17,036 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.0% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 49,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,207,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 63.0% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew 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 buying an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

BBSI opened at $29.58 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.33. Barrett Business Services has a 1-year low of $25.33 and a 1-year high of $49.65. The stock has a market cap of $745.50 million, a PE ratio of 14.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.99.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The business services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.43 million. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 4.39% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Barrett Business Services will post 2 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 issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.31%.

Barrett Business Services Company Profile

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.