StockNews.com Begins Coverage on ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA)

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

ESSA Bancorp Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:ESSA opened at $20.70 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $19.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.10. 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 $21.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.21 million, a PE ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.40.

ESSA Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. ESSA Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.71%.

Institutional Trading of ESSA Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESSA. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 184.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 13,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 8,895 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 126.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 8,136 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 4.5% during the third quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 51.8% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 22,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 7,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 3.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 30,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. 54.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.