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

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

ESSA Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ESSA opened at $17.20 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $15.29 and a 1-year high of $22.22. The company has a market capitalization of $174.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.89 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.79 and a 200-day moving average of $19.74.

ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) last released 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. ESSA Bancorp’s payout ratio is 34.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESSA Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 115,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in ESSA Bancorp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 186,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,641,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 48,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew 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 valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 during 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.