Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 48,700 shares, a decline of 19.9% from the March 31st total of 60,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 29,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

BBSI traded down $1.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $121.77. The stock had a trading volume of 24,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,466. The firm has a market capitalization of $795.89 million, a P/E ratio of 16.39, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $120.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.34. Barrett Business Services has a twelve month low of $76.22 and a twelve month high of $130.00.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The business services provider reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 4.73% and a return on equity of 27.69%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Barrett Business Services will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $141.00 price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Monday, April 22nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barrett Business Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 53,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,867,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Bridge City Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 14,287 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 28,373 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,560,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 3,964 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.