Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barrington Research Analyst Says

Key Points

• Barrington Research raised the price target for Barrett Business Services (BBSI) from $45.00 to $49.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.96% from the company's previous close.
• Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded BBSI's rating from "strong-buy" to "hold" on May 16th, reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment.
• Barrett Business Services reported earnings of $0.70 per share, beating estimates, with a 10.0% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Barrington Research from $45.00 to $49.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the business services provider's stock. Barrington Research's price objective points to a potential upside of 5.33% from the stock's previous close.

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded Barrett Business Services from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th.

Barrett Business Services Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:BBSI traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $46.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 167,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 172,216. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.92, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.02. 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 50 day moving average price of $43.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.84. Barrett Business Services has a fifty-two week low of $34.14 and a fifty-two week high of $48.48.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Barrett Business Services news, COO Gerald Blotz sold 13,327 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total transaction of $569,196.17. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 209,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,930,490.16. The trade was a 5.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Anthony Meeker sold 7,380 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.14, for a total value of $310,993.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 55,504 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,338,938.56. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,061 shares of company stock valued at $1,406,470. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Barrett Business Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 393,267 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $17,084,000 after purchasing an additional 15,900 shares in the last quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC bought a new stake in Barrett Business Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $14,792,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Barrett Business Services during the 1st quarter worth approximately $12,999,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 187,629 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $7,721,000 after purchasing an additional 20,169 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.