Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Short Interest Up 18.9% in May

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 684,900 shares, an increase of 18.9% from the April 30th total of 576,000 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 157,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Carley sold 12,354 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.60, for a total transaction of $526,280.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 91,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,903,352.80. This represents a 11.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrett Business Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new position in Barrett Business Services during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Barrett Business Services during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $75,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 26.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services during the first quarter valued at approximately $163,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBSI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Barrett Business Services from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th.

Barrett Business Services Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:BBSI traded up $0.10 on Thursday, reaching $41.93. 46,194 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 140,736. The company has a fifty day moving average of $40.84 and a 200-day moving average of $41.74. Barrett Business Services has a twelve month low of $31.77 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.02.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The business services provider reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.09. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 4.55% and a return on equity of 25.28%. The company had revenue of $292.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $285.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Barrett Business Services will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. Barrett Business Services's payout ratio is 16.41%.

Barrett Business Services Company 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.