Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) by 62.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,039 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.15% of Barrett Business Services worth $1,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 772.6% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,953 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 13.5% in the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 27,085 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $790,000 after purchasing an additional 3,220 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Barrett Business Services during the 1st quarter worth $629,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in Barrett Business Services by 312.4% during the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 113,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,320,000 after purchasing an additional 86,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its stake in Barrett Business Services by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 123,350 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,599,000 after purchasing an additional 23,919 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Barrett Business Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Barrett Business Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Barrett Business Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.50.

Insider Activity

In other Barrett Business Services news, Director Anthony Meeker sold 12,000 shares of Barrett Business Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.85, for a total transaction of $454,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 44,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,701,168.25. The trade was a 21.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP James R. Potts sold 3,490 shares of Barrett Business Services 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 32,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,330. This trade represents a 9.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 20,779 shares of company stock valued at $786,233 over the last three months. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BBSI opened at $39.04 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $36.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.15. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.33 and a 12 month high of $49.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $958.82 million, a P/E ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

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