Short Interest in Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) Drops By 19.9%

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) saw a large decline in short interest during 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 volume of 29,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $141.00 price objective on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Monday, April 22nd.

Barrett Business Services Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of BBSI traded up $1.45 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $123.22. The stock had a trading volume of 7,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 29,682. The company has a market cap of $805.86 million, a PE ratio of 16.58, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $120.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.47. Barrett Business Services has a fifty-two week low of $76.22 and a fifty-two week high of $130.00.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The business services provider reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 27.69% and a net margin of 4.73%. Equities analysts expect that Barrett Business Services will post 7.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given 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 yield of 0.97%. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBSI. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in Barrett Business Services during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Bridge City Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 14,287 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,810,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 28,373 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,560,000 after buying an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 3,964 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

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.