North Star Investment Management Corp. Has $3.60 Million Stake in Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI

North Star Investment Management Corp. boosted its holdings in Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) by 24.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,350 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,919 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. owned about 0.50% of Barrett Business Services worth $3,599,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $31,534,000 after acquiring an additional 208,865 shares in the last quarter. Trigran Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Trigran Investments Inc. now owns 648,738 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $23,491,000 after acquiring an additional 249,052 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 49.4% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 193,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,994,000 after acquiring an additional 63,854 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Barrett Business Services by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 514,047 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,614,000 after purchasing an additional 37,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Barrett Business Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $881,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Barrett Business Services Price Performance

NASDAQ:BBSI opened at $36.06 on Monday. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a one year low of $25.33 and a one year high of $49.65. The company has a market cap of $885.63 million, a P/E ratio of 23.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $31.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.73.

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

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on BBSI. Wall Street Zen raised Barrett Business Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Barrett Business Services from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. 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. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Barrett Business Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.50.

About Barrett Business Services

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.