Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) from sell to hold, adding to a mixed analyst picture that currently averages a Moderate Buy rating with a $41.50 price target.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of -$0.13 per share, beating expectations by $0.02, while revenue came in at $307.01 million, slightly above estimates and up 4.9% year over year.
• Insider activity was mixed: CEO Gary Kramer bought shares in March, while EVP James R. Potts sold shares; meanwhile, institutional ownership remains high at 86.76%.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on BBSI. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Roth Mkm reduced 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 research report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Barrett Business Services from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Barrett Business Services from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.50.

Barrett Business Services Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ:BBSI opened at $33.00 on Friday. Barrett Business Services has a 1-year low of $25.33 and a 1-year high of $49.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $810.48 million, a PE ratio of 21.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.96.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $307.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $306.68 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Barrett Business Services will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Barrett Business Services

In related news, EVP James R. Potts sold 1,803 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was 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 owned 33,837 shares of the company's stock, valued at $970,445.16. The trade was a 5.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary Kramer purchased 8,370 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.89 per share, with a total value of $225,069.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 328,801 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,841,458.89. This represents a 2.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Barrett Business Services by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,053 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $71,118,000 after acquiring an additional 13,331 shares in the last quarter. Private Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 999,371 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $36,187,000 after buying an additional 12,117 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 870,863 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $31,534,000 after buying an additional 208,865 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 821,560 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,749,000 after buying an additional 109,069 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 4.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 661,181 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $19,295,000 after buying an additional 25,221 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company's stock.

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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