Hsbc Holdings PLC Invests $629,000 in Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI

Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 21,207 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $629,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.09% of Barrett Business Services at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Barrett Business Services by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,053 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $71,118,000 after purchasing an additional 13,331 shares during the period. Private Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 999,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,187,000 after purchasing an additional 12,117 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 870,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,534,000 after purchasing an additional 208,865 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 821,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,749,000 after purchasing an additional 109,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 652,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $23,627,000 after purchasing an additional 2,976 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Barrett Business Services news, EVP James R. Potts sold 3,490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $132,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 32,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,330. This represents a 9.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Anthony Meeker sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.85, for a total value of $454,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 44,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,701,168.25. This represents a 21.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,779 shares of company stock valued at $786,233. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BBSI. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Barrett Business Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

BBSI stock opened at $39.97 on Friday. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.33 and a 1 year high of $49.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.85 and a 200 day moving average of $33.11. The company has a market cap of $981.66 million, a P/E ratio of 25.95, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.95.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $307.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.68 million. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 22.89% and a net margin of 3.24%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 22nd were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.78%.

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.