Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI Stock Holdings Boosted by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Barrett Business Services by 49.4% to 193,145 shares (about 0.75% of the company), and institutional investors now own roughly 86.76% of the stock.
• Several analysts cut price targets recently (Roth MKM to $42, Barrington to $41) and Zacks downgraded the stock, but the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $41.50.
• Insider activity was mixed: CEO Gary Kramer bought 8,370 shares at $26.89 (raising his stake to 328,801 shares) while an EVP sold 1,803 shares; insiders collectively own about 4.10% of the company.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI - Free Report) by 49.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 193,145 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 63,854 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.75% of Barrett Business Services worth $6,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBSI. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Barrett Business Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Barrett Business Services by 1,388.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 893 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in Barrett Business Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $54,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in Barrett Business Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Barrett Business Services by 270.2% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,999 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,459 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BBSI. Roth Mkm decreased their price target on Barrett Business Services from $54.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Barrington Research decreased their price target on Barrett Business Services from $46.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research lowered Barrett Business Services from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Monday, December 29th. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.50.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

BBSI opened at $30.47 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $748.34 million, a PE ratio of 14.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.56. Barrett Business Services, Inc. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.43 million. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 4.39%.The company's revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Barrett Business Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Barrett Business Services

In other news, EVP James R. Potts sold 1,803 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.68, for a total transaction of $51,710.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 33,837 shares of the company's stock, valued at $970,445.16. This trade represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Gary Kramer acquired 8,370 shares of Barrett Business Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.89 per share, with a total value of $225,069.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 328,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Company insiders own 4.10% 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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