ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

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

ESSA Bancorp Stock Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ ESSA opened at $20.50 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $20.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.67. ESSA Bancorp has a one year low of $15.29 and a one year high of $22.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $208.18 million, a P/E ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 0.40.

ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter. ESSA Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.27% and a net margin of 14.83%.

ESSA Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. ESSA Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.48%.

Institutional Trading of ESSA Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESSA. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 47,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $915,000 after acquiring an additional 2,412 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake 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 worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 7,696 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 115,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,229,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 184.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 13,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 8,895 shares during the last quarter. 54.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ESSA Bancorp

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.