ESSA Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESSA) Short Interest Up 25.7% in February

ESSA Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESSA) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 26,400 shares, an increase of 25.7% from the February 13th total of 21,000 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 25,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FJ Capital Management LLC grew its position in ESSA Bancorp by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 967,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,860,000 after acquiring an additional 25,176 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 186,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,641,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,361,000 after purchasing an additional 2,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in ESSA Bancorp by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 48,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on ESSA Bancorp in a research report on Monday, March 10th. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

ESSA Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of ESSA traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $18.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 28,614. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $20.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.44 million, a PE ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. ESSA Bancorp has a one year low of $15.29 and a one year high of $22.22.

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

ESSA Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders 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 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. ESSA Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 34.48%.

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.