Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Short Interest Down 5.4% in October

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 461,500 shares, a decrease of 5.4% from the October 15th total of 487,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 126,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Barrett Business Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Barrett Business Services from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barrington Research boosted their price objective on Barrett Business Services from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Gary Kramer sold 34,288 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.05, for a total value of $1,201,794.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,501,132.15. The trade was a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Barrett Business Services

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Barrett Business Services by 12,014.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 848 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in Barrett Business Services by 300.0% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 936 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Barrett Business Services in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Huntington National Bank bought a new stake in Barrett Business Services during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $60,000. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

BBSI opened at $41.52 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.39. Barrett Business Services has a one year low of $26.60 and a one year high of $43.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.00.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Barrett Business Services’s payout ratio is 16.89%.

Barrett Business Services Company Profile

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.