Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest dropped 36.3% in April to 497,203 shares (about 2.1% of the stock), leaving a short-interest ratio of just 2.7 days.
• CEO Gary Kramer bought 8,370 shares at roughly $26.89, increasing his holdings to 328,801 shares, and corporate insiders now own 4.10% of the company.
• Barrett reported quarterly EPS of $0.64 (in line with estimates) with revenue up 5.3% year‑over‑year, and analysts hold a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a $41.50 target price.

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 497,203 shares, a decrease of 36.3% from the March 31st total of 780,403 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 186,207 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

Shares of BBSI opened at $30.51 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average is $29.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.47. The company has a market capitalization of $749.33 million, a P/E ratio of 14.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.99. Barrett Business Services has a fifty-two week low of $25.33 and a fifty-two week high of $49.65.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The business services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Analysts forecast that Barrett Business Services will post 1.86 EPS for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Barrett Business Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Barrett Business Services from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research report on Monday. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Barrett Business Services currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary Kramer bought 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, with a total value of $225,069.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 328,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,841,458.89. The trade was a 2.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. 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 on 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 approximately $970,445.16. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrett Business Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.0% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 49,800 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,207,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 63.0% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,219 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 37,091 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,644,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.