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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ESSA Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 5.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 47,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after buying an additional 2,412 shares during the period. 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 valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 7,696 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position 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 buying an additional 554 shares during the period. 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 valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 8,895 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 2.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 186,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,577,000 after buying an additional 4,431 shares during the period. 54.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ESSA Bancorp Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of ESSA Bancorp stock opened at $18.90 on Wednesday. ESSA Bancorp has a 52-week low of $15.29 and a 52-week high of $22.22. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.93 million, a P/E ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94.

ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.41 earnings per share (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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. ESSA Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.48%.

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.