ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) Now Covered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) in a research report released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

ESSA Bancorp Trading Up 1.0 %

ESSA opened at $21.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.27 million, a P/E ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. ESSA Bancorp has a 12 month low of $15.29 and a 12 month high of $21.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.28.

ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter. ESSA Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.33% and a net margin of 14.83%.

ESSA Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. ESSA Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.48%.

Institutional Trading of ESSA Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESSA. Barclays PLC grew its position in ESSA Bancorp by 184.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 13,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 8,895 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 126.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 8,136 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 51.8% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 22,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 7,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 5.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 47,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 2,412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.15% of the company’s stock.

ESSA Bancorp Company Profile

ESSA Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for ESSA Bank & Trust that provides a range of financial services to individuals, families, and businesses in Pennsylvania. The company accepts savings accounts, interest bearing demand accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, club accounts, certificates of deposit and IRAs, and other qualified plan accounts, as well as commercial checking accounts.