Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy on Barrett Business Services from five brokerages, with an average 12‑month price target of $41.50 and a split of 1 sell, 1 hold, 2 buy and 1 strong buy.
• Insider activity was mixed: CEO Gary Kramer bought 8,370 shares at about $26.89 while EVP James R. Potts sold 1,803 shares at about $28.68, and insiders collectively own roughly 4.10% of the stock.
• Barrett reported quarterly EPS of $0.64 (in line with estimates) and revenue was up 5.3% year‑over‑year; the company has a market cap of ~$762.6M, a P/E of 14.48, and pays a $0.08 quarterly dividend (about a 1.1% yield).

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.50.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BBSI. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barrington Research cut their target price on Barrett Business Services from $46.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Roth Mkm cut 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, Zacks Research lowered Barrett Business Services from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James R. Potts sold 1,803 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.68, for a total transaction of $51,710.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 33,837 shares of the company's stock, valued at $970,445.16. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Gary Kramer bought 8,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.89 per share, for a total transaction of $225,069.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 328,801 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,841,458.89. This trade represents a 2.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew 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 valued at $2,037,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.9% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 37,091 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,644,000 after buying an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

BBSI opened at $30.26 on Wednesday. Barrett Business Services has a one year low of $25.33 and a one year high of $49.65. The stock's fifty day moving average is $29.40 and its 200-day moving average is $34.86. The company has a market capitalization of $762.64 million, a PE ratio of 14.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.99.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.43 million. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 4.39%.The company's quarterly revenue 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, equities research analysts forecast that Barrett Business Services will post 1.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. 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.

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