ESSA Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESSA) Short Interest Update

ESSA Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESSA) saw a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 26,300 shares, a growth of 6.0% from the October 31st total of 24,800 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 10,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ESSA Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESSA. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 8,895 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ESSA Bancorp by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 186,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,577,000 after purchasing an additional 4,431 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in ESSA Bancorp by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 115,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after purchasing an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in ESSA Bancorp by 51.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Northeast Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in ESSA Bancorp by 4.5% during 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 during the last quarter. 54.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ESSA Bancorp Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of ESSA traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.51. 3,475 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,321. The company has a market cap of $207.77 million, a PE ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 0.38. ESSA Bancorp has a 52 week low of $15.29 and a 52 week high of $21.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.42. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. ESSA Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.71%.

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.