Commerce Bank Acquires 3,542 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 16.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,795 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,542 shares during the period. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASB. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 285.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,225 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 907 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Associated Banc during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 82.1% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,438 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the second quarter valued at about $93,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the second quarter valued at about $140,000. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,000 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.78, for a total transaction of $45,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 99,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,269,730.86. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total transaction of $810,172.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,406.03. The trade was a 26.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 58,641 shares of company stock valued at $1,481,496 in the last 90 days. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of ASB opened at $27.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.53, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.91. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1 year low of $17.30 and a 1 year high of $28.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $23.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.17.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $607.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.52 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 8.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. This is a positive change from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is currently 76.67%.

Associated Banc Company Profile

Associated Banc-Corp, a bank holding company, provides various banking and nonbanking products to individuals and businesses in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. The company offers lending solutions, including commercial loans and lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction loans, letters of credit, leasing, asset based lending and equipment finance, loan syndications products, residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, personal and installment loans, auto finance and business loans, and business lines of credit.