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

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 418,700 shares, a growth of 9.4% from the September 15th total of 382,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 149,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BBSI shares. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barrington Research upped their price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st.

Barrett Business Services Trading Up 1.8 %

BBSI stock opened at $38.01 on Thursday. Barrett Business Services has a one year low of $21.59 and a one year high of $38.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $994.61 million, a PE ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.71.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a positive change from Barrett Business Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is 17.58%.

Insider Activity at Barrett Business Services

In related news, CEO Gary Kramer sold 34,288 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 242,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,501,132.15. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 35,133 shares of company stock valued at $1,231,357 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Barrett Business Services

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Barrett Business Services by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 193,903 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,454,000 after acquiring an additional 18,897 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Barrett Business Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $693,000. Private Capital Management LLC raised its position in Barrett Business Services by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 346,058 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,074,000 after acquiring an additional 1,575 shares in the last quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC raised its position in Barrett Business Services by 2.4% during the first quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 14,287 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Barrett Business Services by 29.3% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 12,984 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,645,000 after acquiring an additional 2,945 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is 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.