Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.08

Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 31st, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of 0.08 per share by the business services provider on Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from Barrett Business Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08.

Barrett Business Services has a dividend payout ratio of 14.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Barrett Business Services to earn $2.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.6%.

Barrett Business Services Stock Down 1.9 %

BBSI stock traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $35.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 96,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 137,961. Barrett Business Services has a 12 month low of $21.59 and a 12 month high of $37.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $941.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.11.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $279.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $273.13 million. Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 26.01% and a net margin of 4.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Barrett Business Services will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas B. Cusick sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.01, for a total value of $79,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,192 shares in the company, valued at $864,663.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on BBSI. Barrington Research increased their target price on Barrett Business Services from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Barrett Business Services from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sidoti downgraded Barrett Business Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Barrett Business Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th.

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.