James Potts Sells 3,490 Shares of Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Stock

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) EVP James Potts sold 3,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 32,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,217,330. The trade was a 9.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Barrett Business Services Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of BBSI opened at $37.39 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $32.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.79. The stock has a market cap of $918.30 million, a PE ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.95. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.33 and a 52-week high of $49.65.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 22.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. Barrett Business Services’s payout ratio is currently 20.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrett Business Services

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Barrett Business Services by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,053 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $71,118,000 after purchasing an additional 13,331 shares during the period. Private Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $36,187,000 after buying an additional 12,117 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 870,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,534,000 after buying an additional 208,865 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake 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 valued at $29,749,000 after buying an additional 109,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 661,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $19,295,000 after buying an additional 25,221 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BBSI shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Barrett Business Services from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Barrett Business Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

About Barrett Business Services

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.