Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Sets New 1-Year High at $37.00

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $37.00 and last traded at $36.93, with a volume of 219706 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $36.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Sidoti downgraded Barrett Business Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Barrington Research increased their price target on shares of Barrett Business Services from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Barrett Business Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st.

Barrett Business Services Stock Up 2.1 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of $35.09 and a 200 day moving average of $32.65. The company has a market cap of $965.35 million, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.38.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $279.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.13 million. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 4.50% and a return on equity of 25.69%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from Barrett Business Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary Kramer sold 34,288 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.05, for a total value of $1,201,794.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 242,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,501,132.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,133 shares of company stock worth $1,231,357. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BBSI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 84,945 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,837,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Barrett Business Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $563,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Barrett Business Services by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 2,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP raised its stake in Barrett Business Services by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 3,616 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 1,259 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.