Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts hold a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Barrett Business Services, with two buy ratings, one strong-buy rating and two holds. The average 12-month price target is $41.50.
• BBSI reported quarterly revenue of $307.0 million, up 4.9% year over year, and adjusted its loss to $0.13 per share—better than the $0.15 consensus estimate. Analysts expect full-year earnings of $1.88 per share.
• Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company, while insiders have sold 20,779 shares worth $786,233 over the past 90 days. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.08, yielding approximately 0.8% annually.

Shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.50.

BBSI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Barrett Business Services from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Zacks Research raised Barrett Business Services from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Barrett Business Services from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research report on Monday, April 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Anthony Meeker sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.85, for a total transaction of $454,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 44,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,701,168.25. This trade represents a 21.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James R. Potts sold 3,490 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $132,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 32,035 shares in the company, valued at $1,217,330. The trade was a 9.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 20,779 shares of company stock worth $786,233 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrett Business Services

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BBSI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 4.3% in the 1st 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 during the period. Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in Barrett Business Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,747,000. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Barrett Business Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,732,000. Creative Planning raised its stake in Barrett Business Services by 71.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 9,778 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 4,085 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 40.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 37,923 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,581,000 after acquiring an additional 10,994 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BBSI opened at $39.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $981.66 million, a P/E ratio of 25.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.95. Barrett Business Services has a 52-week low of $25.33 and a 52-week high of $49.65. The company's 50 day moving average price is $35.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.11.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 $307.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.68 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.04) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Barrett Business Services will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Barrett Business Services's payout ratio is 20.78%.

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.

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