Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Hits New 52-Week High at $37.00

Shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $37.00 and last traded at $36.93, with a volume of 219706 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBSI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sidoti cut shares of Barrett Business Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Barrington Research upped their price objective on Barrett Business Services from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Barrett Business Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Barrett Business Services from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $965.35 million, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.38. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $35.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.65.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $279.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.13 million. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 4.50% and a return on equity of 25.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Gary Kramer sold 805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $28,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 276,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,689,085. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,133 shares of company stock valued at $1,231,357. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrett Business Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BBSI. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Barrett Business Services by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 84,945 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,837,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Barrett Business Services by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 2,463 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its position in shares of Barrett Business Services by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 3,616 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 1,259 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $563,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Barrett Business Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $551,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.