Tabor Asset Management LP Invests $735,000 in ESSA Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESSA)

Tabor Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESSA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 39,006 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $735,000. Tabor Asset Management LP owned about 0.38% of ESSA Bancorp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FJ Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 967,168 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,860,000 after acquiring an additional 25,176 shares during the last quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. bought a new stake in ESSA Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $3,722,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in ESSA Bancorp by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 186,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,641,000 after buying an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in ESSA Bancorp by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,361,000 after buying an additional 2,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in ESSA Bancorp by 123.3% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 37,898 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $739,000 after buying an additional 20,930 shares during the last quarter. 54.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

ESSA Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ESSA traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $20.19. The company had a trading volume of 141,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,770. ESSA Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.82 and a 12 month high of $22.22. The stock has a market cap of $204.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 0.43. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $19.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.43.

ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $16.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. ESSA Bancorp's payout ratio is 38.71%.

ESSA Bancorp 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.