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

Stock analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) in a research note issued on Thursday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

ESSA Bancorp Stock Performance

ESSA stock opened at $21.58 on Thursday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $20.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.26. ESSA Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $15.29 and a fifty-two week high of $21.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.04 million, a PE ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.40.

ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 7.33%.

Institutional Trading of ESSA Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 184.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 13,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 8,895 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 126.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 8,136 shares during the period. Northeast Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 51.8% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 22,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 7,696 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 47,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.