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

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) in a report released on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

ESSA Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ESSA opened at $21.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 0.40. ESSA Bancorp has a 12 month low of $15.29 and a 12 month high of $21.84. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.28. 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 (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 net margin of 14.83% and a return on equity of 7.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESSA. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 184.2% during 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. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 8,136 shares in the last quarter. Northeast Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 7,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 2,412 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.15% of the company’s 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.