Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) Hits New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $38.07 and last traded at $38.00, with a volume of 24557 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $37.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BBSI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barrington Research raised their price objective on Barrett Business Services from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Roth Mkm boosted 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 Trading Up 1.8 %

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.71. The company has a market cap of $994.61 million, a PE ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.38.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $279.60 million for 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 business's revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from Barrett Business Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Barrett Business Services's payout ratio is currently 17.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Gary Kramer sold 34,288 shares of Barrett Business Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.05, for a total transaction of $1,201,794.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 242,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,501,132.15. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,133 shares of company stock worth $1,231,357. Insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Barrett Business Services

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Barrett Business Services by 12,014.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 848 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 300.0% during 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 during the period. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in Barrett Business Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services during the first quarter worth $227,000. Finally, Aristides Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services during the 1st quarter worth about $277,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.