Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Short Interest Down 8.9% in August

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 399,800 shares, a decline of 8.9% from the August 15th total of 438,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 170,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Insider Activity at Barrett Business Services

In other Barrett Business Services news, CEO Gary Kramer sold 34,288 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 242,543 shares in the company, valued at $8,501,132.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 35,133 shares of company stock worth $1,231,357 in the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Barrett Business Services

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 12,014.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 848 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Barrett Business Services in the first quarter valued at about $227,000. Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services during the 1st quarter worth about $277,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 64.4% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,546 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barrett Business Services Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Barrett Business Services stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $36.95. The stock had a trading volume of 21,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 140,898. Barrett Business Services has a 1 year low of $21.59 and a 1 year high of $37.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.75. The company has a market capitalization of $966.87 million, a PE ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Barrett Business Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.87%. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.