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

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

ESSA Bancorp Trading Down 0.4 %

ESSA opened at $18.96 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $20.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. ESSA Bancorp has a 12 month low of $15.29 and a 12 month high of $22.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 0.40.

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

ESSA Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. ESSA Bancorp’s payout ratio is 34.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESSA Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESSA. FJ Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 967,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,860,000 after acquiring an additional 25,176 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 186,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,641,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in ESSA Bancorp by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 115,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,361,000 after purchasing an additional 2,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in ESSA Bancorp by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 48,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.15% of the company’s stock.

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.