Heartland Advisors Inc. Purchases New Shares in Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI

Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 450,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,984,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BBSI. Tieton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Barrett Business Services during the second quarter worth about $11,345,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Barrett Business Services during the 2nd quarter worth about $72,793,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Barrett Business Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $900,000. Crown Advisors Management Inc. purchased a new position in Barrett Business Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,131,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Barrett Business Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,015,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP James R. Potts sold 3,490 shares of Barrett Business Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $132,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 32,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,217,330. This trade represents a 9.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Anthony Meeker sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.85, for a total value of $454,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 44,945 shares in the company, valued at $1,701,168.25. This trade represents a 21.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 20,779 shares of company stock valued at $786,233 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Barrett Business Services Trading Up 1.0%

BBSI opened at $33.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $813.08 million, a PE ratio of 24.67, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.94. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.33 and a twelve month high of $49.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.72.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The business services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $319.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $321.55 million. Barrett Business Services had a net margin of 2.77% and a return on equity of 20.95%. As a group, analysts predict that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 21st. Barrett Business Services’s payout ratio is currently 23.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on BBSI shares. Barrington Research set a $44.00 price objective on Barrett Business Services in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Roth Capital cut Barrett Business Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $42.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research lowered Barrett Business Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Barrett Business Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

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.