Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Trims Stock Position in Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI)

Key Points

• Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Barrett Business Services by 7.0%, now owning approximately 1.96 million shares valued at $80.78 million.
• Barrett Business Services recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of ($0.04), beating analysts' expectations, with revenue increasing by 10.1% compared to the previous year.
• Insider activity revealed significant sales of company stock, with directors selling over 33,000 shares in the last 90 days, representing a decrease in their holdings.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,963,115 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 147,435 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 7.64% of Barrett Business Services worth $80,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 2.1% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 528,243 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $21,737,000 after buying an additional 10,627 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 393,267 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $17,084,000 after acquiring an additional 15,900 shares in the last quarter. 4D Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,430,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Barrett Business Services in the fourth quarter valued at $3,849,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 85,243 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,704,000 after acquiring an additional 8,925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Barrett Business Services news, COO Gerald Blotz sold 13,327 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total value of $569,196.17. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Anthony Meeker sold 7,380 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.14, for a total value of $310,993.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 55,504 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,338,938.56. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,061 shares of company stock valued at $1,406,470. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on BBSI shares. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Barrett Business Services from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

Shares of BBSI traded down $1.88 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $44.09. The company had a trading volume of 97,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 141,435. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.99. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.77 and a 52-week high of $46.90.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $292.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $285.91 million. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 24.55% and a net margin of 4.45%. Barrett Business Services's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.01) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Barrett Business Services's payout ratio is 16.41%.

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.