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

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

ESSA Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of ESSA stock opened at $19.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $195.48 million, a PE ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $20.56 and a 200-day moving average of $19.77. ESSA Bancorp has a one year low of $15.29 and a one year high of $22.22.

ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) last announced 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 7.27% and a net margin of 14.83%.

ESSA Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. ESSA Bancorp’s payout ratio is 34.48%.

Institutional Trading of ESSA Bancorp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in ESSA Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $109,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 44.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 3,731 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 12,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 184.2% during the 3rd 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. 54.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.