ESSA Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESSA) Short Interest Up 25.7% in February

ESSA Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESSA) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 26,400 shares, an increase of 25.7% from the February 13th total of 21,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 25,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESSA. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 27.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in ESSA Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $109,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 44.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 3,731 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 12,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 184.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 13,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 8,895 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.15% of the company’s stock.

ESSA Bancorp Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ESSA opened at $18.90 on Wednesday. ESSA Bancorp has a 12 month low of $15.29 and a 12 month high of $22.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.53 and a 200-day moving average of $19.78.

ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. ESSA Bancorp’s payout ratio is 34.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on ESSA Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the 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.