ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

ESSA Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESSA - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $19.35 and traded as high as $20.85. ESSA Bancorp shares last traded at $20.74, with a volume of 65,197 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of ESSA Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock.

ESSA Bancorp Stock Up 1.8%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.35. The company has a market capitalization of $210.61 million, a P/E ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 0.43.

ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $16.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.19 million. ESSA Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.84% and a net margin of 13.20%.

ESSA Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. ESSA Bancorp's payout ratio is 38.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESSA. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 186,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,641,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 27.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 1,107 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 3.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 50,340 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $949,000 after buying an additional 1,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 15,581 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 1,858 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.15% of the company's stock.

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.