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

ESSA Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESSA) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of 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 shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 10,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

ESSA Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of ESSA traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.51. 3,475 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,321. ESSA Bancorp has a twelve month low of $15.29 and a twelve month high of $21.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $207.77 million, a P/E ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.42.

ESSA Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ESSA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in ESSA Bancorp by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 441,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,044,000 after acquiring an additional 2,056 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in ESSA Bancorp by 3.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 30,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $530,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in ESSA Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $300,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in ESSA Bancorp by 4.8% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in ESSA Bancorp by 5.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 47,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 2,412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.15% of the company’s 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.