Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.50.

BBSI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Barrett Business Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Barrett Business Services from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th.

Institutional Trading of Barrett Business Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Barrett Business Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Barrett Business Services during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Barrett Business Services by 63.0% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the period. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Barrett Business Services by 152.6% during the fourth quarter. Tripletail Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ BBSI opened at $37.91 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $931.07 million, a P/E ratio of 24.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.95. Barrett Business Services has a fifty-two week low of $25.33 and a fifty-two week high of $49.65.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.02. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 22.89% and a net margin of 3.24%.The business had revenue of $307.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.68 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Barrett Business Services will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Barrett Business Services’s payout ratio is currently 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.