Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Sets New 12-Month High at $37.81

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $37.81 and last traded at $37.51, with a volume of 1307 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $37.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on BBSI shares. Barrington Research boosted their target price on shares of Barrett Business Services from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Barrett Business Services from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Sidoti lowered shares of Barrett Business Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th.

Barrett Business Services Trading Up 0.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $980.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.83.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 25.69% and a net margin of 4.50%. The business had revenue of $279.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $273.13 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This is an increase from Barrett Business Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Barrett Business Services’s payout ratio is presently 17.58%.

Insider Activity at Barrett Business Services

In related news, CEO Gary Kramer sold 805 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $28,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 276,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,689,085. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,133 shares of company stock valued at $1,231,357. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BBSI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 281.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 867,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,435,000 after acquiring an additional 640,508 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 299.4% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 798,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,167,000 after acquiring an additional 598,567 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Barrett Business Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $17,870,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 155.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 535,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,561,000 after acquiring an additional 326,502 shares during the period. Finally, Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 259.8% in the 2nd quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 378,786 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,413,000 after acquiring an additional 273,516 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

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.