Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Short Interest Update

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) saw a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 717,409 shares, an increase of 22.0% from the January 29th total of 587,988 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 217,815 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Based on an average trading volume of 217,815 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Approximately 2.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Barrett Business Services Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of BBSI opened at $27.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.40. Barrett Business Services has a 12-month low of $25.33 and a 12-month high of $49.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $702.58 million, a P/E ratio of 13.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.03.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The business services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.43 million. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 23.67% and a net margin of 4.39%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Barrett Business Services will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Barrett Business Services’s payout ratio is 15.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Trigran Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Barrett Business Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,531,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $454,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,901,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $84,271,000 after buying an additional 324,715 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1,176.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 123,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,484,000 after buying an additional 114,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CSM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,155,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research decreased their price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services from $46.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. CJS Securities raised shares of Barrett Business Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on Barrett Business Services from $54.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Barrett Business Services has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

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.