Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,584,271 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 79,658 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.37% of Associated Banc worth $77,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ASB. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Associated Banc by 82.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,438 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Associated Banc during the second quarter worth about $140,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 138.5% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,222 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 4,775 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Associated Banc Price Performance

ASB opened at $23.99 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1 year low of $19.40 and a 1 year high of $28.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This is an increase from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is 76.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

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.