Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI Holdings Decreased by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its position in Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 853,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 376,701 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned 3.52% of Barrett Business Services worth $25,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services in the second quarter valued at about $72,793,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 661,181 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,295,000 after acquiring an additional 25,221 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 639,462 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,660,000 after acquiring an additional 8,600 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Barrett Business Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,984,000. Finally, Tieton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Barrett Business Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,345,000. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BBSI shares. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Barrington Research set a $44.00 price target on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Barrett Business Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Roth Capital downgraded shares of Barrett Business Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.00.

Barrett Business Services Stock Performance

BBSI traded down $0.26 on Friday, hitting $30.77. The company had a trading volume of 110,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 178,202. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.68. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.33 and a 12-month high of $42.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $737.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.93.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The business services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69. The business had revenue of $334.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $335.89 million. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 2.44% and a return on equity of 19.94%. Analysts forecast that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 20th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 20th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Barrett Business Services’s payout ratio is presently 25.40%.

Barrett Business Services Company Profile

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: BBSI) provides outsourced business management and staffing solutions, primarily to small and midsize businesses. Its services are designed to help clients manage workforce needs and day-to-day employment responsibilities. Through its professional employer organization model, BBSI offers services that include payroll administration, human resources support, employee benefits, workers’ compensation, and workplace safety and risk management. The company also provides recruiting and staffing services to help businesses find and place employees.