Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $32.72 and traded as high as $34.88. Barrett Business Services shares last traded at $34.01, with a volume of 150,751 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BBSI shares. Roth Mkm decreased their price target on Barrett Business Services from $54.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Barrett Business Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Barrett Business Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $835.29 million, a P/E ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.61 and a 200-day moving average of $32.72.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $307.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.68 million. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 22.89% and a net margin of 3.24%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Barrett Business Services’s payout ratio is presently 20.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BBSI. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Barrett Business Services by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,964,053 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $71,118,000 after purchasing an additional 13,331 shares in the last quarter. Private Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Barrett Business Services by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 999,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $36,187,000 after buying an additional 12,117 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in Barrett Business Services by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 870,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,534,000 after buying an additional 208,865 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 821,560 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,749,000 after buying an additional 109,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Barrett Business Services by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 661,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,295,000 after buying an additional 25,221 shares during the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.