ESSA Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESSA) Short Interest Up 23.4% in May

ESSA Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESSA - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 34,300 shares, a growth of 23.4% from the May 15th total of 27,800 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 19,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen started 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 Performance

Shares of ESSA stock traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $18.47. 34,183 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,858. ESSA Bancorp has a 12 month low of $15.82 and a 12 month high of $22.22. The company has a market cap of $187.47 million, a P/E ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 0.41. The company's 50 day moving average price is $18.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.39.

ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA - Get Free Report) last released 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). ESSA Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.84% and a net margin of 13.20%. The business had revenue of $16.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.19 million.

ESSA Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. ESSA Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Institutional Trading of ESSA Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FJ Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 967,168 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,860,000 after purchasing an additional 25,176 shares in the last quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,722,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 623 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 69,810 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,361,000 after acquiring an additional 2,289 shares during the period. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $985,000. 54.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.