Barclays PLC Has $304,000 Stock Holdings in ESSA Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESSA)

Barclays PLC raised its stake in ESSA Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESSA) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,858 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in ESSA Bancorp were worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 123.3% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 37,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 20,930 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in ESSA Bancorp by 104.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 29,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 15,166 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in ESSA Bancorp by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 26,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 3,568 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of ESSA Bancorp by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 48,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. 54.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ESSA Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ESSA opened at $18.98 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $192.74 million, a P/E ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. ESSA Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.82 and a 1-year high of $22.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $18.54 and its 200-day moving average is $19.64.

ESSA Bancorp (NASDAQ:ESSA) last issued its quarterly 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 company 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 7.27% and a net margin of 14.83%.

ESSA Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. ESSA Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 38.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on ESSA Bancorp in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the 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.