GW&K Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI

GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 514,047 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,947 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Barrett Business Services were worth $18,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 63.0% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services in the third quarter valued at $54,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in Barrett Business Services during the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 270.2% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Barrett Business Services during the 4th quarter worth $124,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

Shares of BBSI opened at $34.34 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $843.39 million, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.96. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a one year low of $25.33 and a one year high of $49.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.84.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The business services provider reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $307.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $306.68 million. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 22.89% and a net margin of 3.24%.Barrett Business Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.04) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BBSI shares. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Barrett Business Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. 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. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Barrett Business Services from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Roth Mkm reduced their price target on Barrett Business Services from $54.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.50.

Insider Transactions at Barrett Business Services

In other Barrett Business Services news, CEO Gary Kramer purchased 8,370 shares of Barrett Business Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.89 per share, with a total value of $225,069.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 328,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,841,458.89. This trade represents a 2.61% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James R. Potts sold 1,803 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.68, for a total value of $51,710.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 33,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $970,445.16. This represents a 5.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Barrett Business Services 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.