Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Barrett Business Services has a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy", based on five broker opinions, with an average 12-month price target of $41.50.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings that beat EPS and revenue estimates, posting EPS of ($0.13) versus expectations of ($0.15) and revenue of $307.01 million, up 4.9% year over year.
• Barrett Business Services also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, while insider activity showed CEO Gary Kramer bought shares and EVP James R. Potts sold shares earlier this year.

Shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.50.

Several research analysts have commented on BBSI shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Barrett Business Services from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Roth Mkm decreased their price objective 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 issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Barrett Business Services from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

Shares of BBSI opened at $30.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $737.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.97. Barrett Business Services has a fifty-two week low of $25.33 and a fifty-two week high of $49.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.50.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.02. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 22.89%. The company had revenue of $307.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.68 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.04) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Barrett Business Services 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 22nd. Barrett Business Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP James R. Potts sold 1,803 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.68, for a total value of $51,710.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 33,837 shares in the company, valued at $970,445.16. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gary Kramer acquired 8,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were purchased 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 in the company, valued at $8,841,458.89. The trade was a 2.61% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Barrett Business Services

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 20.6% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,901,425 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $84,271,000 after buying an additional 324,715 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 821,045.1% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 418,784 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $18,562,000 after buying an additional 418,733 shares during the last quarter. Trigran Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 121.3% in the third quarter. Trigran Investments Inc. now owns 399,686 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $17,714,000 after buying an additional 219,049 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 49.4% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 193,145 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,994,000 after buying an additional 63,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services in the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

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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