Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Earns "Buy (B)" Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) received a restated "buy (B)" rating from Weiss Ratings, signaling positive analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• In recent reports, the company has seen upgrades with three analysts rating it as a Buy and a new average price target of $47.00.
• The firm's latest earnings report showed a 10% revenue increase year-over-year, with earnings per share of $0.70, exceeding analyst estimates.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating restated by Weiss Ratings in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on BBSI. Wall Street Zen upgraded Barrett Business Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, September 7th. Barrington Research upped their price objective on Barrett Business Services from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $47.00.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

BBSI traded up $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.96. The stock had a trading volume of 28,522 shares, compared to its average volume of 145,351. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.96. The company's 50-day moving average price is $46.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.43. Barrett Business Services has a twelve month low of $35.81 and a twelve month high of $49.65.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.05. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 4.49% and a return on equity of 24.59%. The business had revenue of $307.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Barrett Business Services will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Gerald Blotz sold 11,664 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.08, for a total value of $537,477.12. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 197,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,097,666.56. This represents a 5.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Anthony Meeker sold 3,064 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.78, for a total transaction of $143,333.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 54,601 shares in the company, valued at $2,554,234.78. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,438 shares of company stock valued at $5,296,983 in the last three months. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrett Business Services

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BBSI. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 5,807.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,934 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 11,732 shares during the last quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 31.9% during the 1st quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 10,753 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 2,598 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA acquired a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services during the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services during the 1st quarter worth about $645,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 528,243 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $21,737,000 after purchasing an additional 10,627 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company's stock.

About Barrett Business Services

Barrett Business Services, Inc provides business management solutions for small and mid-sized companies in the United States. The company develops a management platform that integrates a knowledge-based approach from the management consulting industry with tools from the human resource outsourcing industry.

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