Vanguard Group Inc. Has $63.55 Million Position in Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Barrett Business Services, Inc. by 0.8%, now holding approximately 1.54 million shares valued at $63.55 million.
• Barrett Business Services recently reported earnings per share of $0.70 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and marking a 10% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.08, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, set to be paid on September 5th.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,544,374 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 11,713 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 6.01% of Barrett Business Services worth $63,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 26.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,309 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 10.0% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 4,400 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 3,939.3% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,524 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 4,412 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company's stock.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BBSI traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $48.53. 72,776 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 143,978. The company has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $44.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.43 and a twelve month high of $49.63.

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

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BBSI shares. Barrington Research increased their price target on shares of Barrett Business Services from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Barrett Business Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $47.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Gerald Blotz sold 13,327 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were 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 owned 209,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,930,490.16. This trade represents a 5.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Anthony Meeker sold 7,380 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $310,993.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 55,504 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,338,938.56. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,417 shares of company stock worth $1,628,361. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Barrett Business Services Profile

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.