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

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

ESSA Bancorp Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:ESSA opened at $17.22 on Thursday. 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 twelve month low of $15.29 and a twelve month high of $22.22. The company has a market cap of $174.87 million, a PE ratio of 9.90 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $20.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.81.

ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. ESSA Bancorp’s payout ratio is 34.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESSA Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESSA. FJ Capital Management LLC grew its position in ESSA Bancorp by 2.7% during 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 buying an additional 25,176 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 123.3% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 37,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 20,930 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in ESSA Bancorp by 104.1% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 29,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 15,166 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in ESSA Bancorp by 184.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 13,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 8,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in ESSA Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $109,000. 54.15% of the stock is currently 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.