ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

ESSA Bancorp Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:ESSA opened at $19.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $198.02 million, a PE ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. ESSA Bancorp has a 52-week low of $15.82 and a 52-week high of $22.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.65.

ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $16.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.19 million. ESSA Bancorp had a net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 7.27%.

ESSA Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. ESSA Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.71%.

Institutional Trading of ESSA Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 0.3% during the 4th 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 period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 1.9% during the 4th 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 during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 15,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.15% of the company’s stock.

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.