Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI Stake Lifted by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) by 31.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 870,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 208,865 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Barrett Business Services were worth $31,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 63.0% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 270.2% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 1,459 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in Barrett Business Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,000. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 75.0% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 3,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BBSI shares. Roth Mkm reduced 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 report on Thursday, February 26th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Barrett Business Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Barrett Business Services from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Barrett Business Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barrett Business Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James R. Potts sold 1,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 33,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $970,445.16. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Gary Kramer bought 8,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.89 per share, for a total transaction of $225,069.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 328,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,841,458.89. This trade represents a 2.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

Barrett Business Services stock opened at $31.52 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $774.13 million, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.05. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.33 and a 1-year high of $49.65.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $307.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.68 million. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 22.89%. Barrett Business Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.04) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.78%.

Barrett Business Services 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.