Piper Sandler Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Stock

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) had its price objective hoisted by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the bank’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective points to a potential upside of 7.65% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on ASB. StockNews.com raised Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.89.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Shares of ASB opened at $26.01 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.43. Associated Banc has a 52-week low of $18.96 and a 52-week high of $28.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.93.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. Associated Banc had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The company had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $336.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Associated Banc will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total value of $810,172.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,021 shares in the company, valued at $2,222,406.03. This represents a 26.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total value of $460,674.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,423,934.76. This represents a 15.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,641 shares of company stock worth $1,435,936 over the last quarter. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Associated Banc

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASB. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $177,282,000 after buying an additional 261,877 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Associated Banc by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,584,271 shares of the bank’s stock worth $77,219,000 after acquiring an additional 79,658 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 11.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,036,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,401,000 after acquiring an additional 305,133 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Associated Banc by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,137,125 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,034,000 after purchasing an additional 17,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 291.3% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,563,274 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,807 shares during the period. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Associated Banc

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.