Hsbc Holdings PLC Raises Stake in Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC significantly increased its stake in Barrett Business Services, Inc. by 113.9% during Q1, owning a total of 16,554 shares valued at approximately $686,000.
• Barrett Business Services recently reported a quarterly earnings of $0.70 EPS, beating estimates, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 10.0% to $307.70 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, yielding 0.7%, scheduled for distribution on September 5th.

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI - Free Report) by 113.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,554 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,816 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.06% of Barrett Business Services worth $686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Barrett Business Services by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 6,900 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Barrett Business Services by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 23,827 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $980,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its stake in Barrett Business Services by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 4,400 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Barrett Business Services by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,309 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Barrett Business Services by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 14,586 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Barrett Business Services Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of BBSI stock traded up $0.48 during trading on Thursday, reaching $49.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 83,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 144,835. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $45.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.40. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.43 and a 1-year high of $49.63.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $307.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $299.95 million. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 4.49% and a return on equity of 24.59%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Barrett Business Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Gerald Blotz sold 13,327 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total transaction of $569,196.17. Following the sale, the chief operating officer 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Anthony Meeker sold 7,380 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.14, for a total value of $310,993.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 55,504 shares in the company, valued at $2,338,938.56. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,417 shares of company stock worth $5,496,361 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BBSI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barrington Research raised their price target on shares of Barrett Business Services from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Barrett Business Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.00.

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.