- Barrington analyst Vincent Colicchio lowered the price target on Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) to $85 from $95 and maintained an Outperform rating on the shares, citing multiple contractions in the peer group average.
- The company's Q4 earnings beat forecasts, and gross billings increased 13% year over year in Q4, mentions Colicchio.
- The analyst raised his 2022 non-GAAP EPS forecast to $5.46 from $5.10 and introduced an initial 2023 non-GAAP EPS forecast of $6.08.
- Roth Capital raised the price target to $108 from $96.
- Recently, the company reported fourth-quarter revenue growth of 10% year-over-year to $256.6 million, beating the Street view of $248.69 million.
- EPS improved to $1.40 from $0.93, beating the consensus of $0.99.
- Q4 Gross billings increased by 13% to $1.81 billion, and Average worksite employees up 7%.
- As of December 31, 2021, cash and equivalents were $166.2 million.
- Dividend: The company confirmed its quarterly cash dividend of $0.30 per share, payable on April 1, 2022, to all stockholders of record as of March 18, 2022.
- Buyback: BBSI's board approved a new stock repurchase program for up to $75 million over the next 24 months, replacing the previous $50 million repurchase program.
- FY22 Outlook: The company expects 7% - 9% gross billings growth and gross margin as a percent of gross billings of 3.0% - 3.1%.
- Price Action: BBSI shares are trading higher by 15.8% at $70.84 on the last check Thursday.
