Associated Banc’s (ASB) Equal Weight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $28.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on ASB. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.11.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

NYSE:ASB opened at $23.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 29.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. Associated Banc has a fifty-two week low of $19.76 and a fifty-two week high of $28.18. The company has a fifty day moving average of $24.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.00.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.24%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Associated Banc will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is presently 116.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total value of $172,970.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,223,021.45. This represents a 12.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value of $71,004.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 66,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,678,897.35. The trade was a 4.06 % 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 company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Associated Banc

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Associated Banc by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $431,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,068 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,838,422 shares of the bank’s stock worth $354,638,000 after buying an additional 1,272,441 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $177,282,000 after buying an additional 261,877 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,849,649 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $92,026,000 after buying an additional 265,378 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in Associated Banc by 11.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 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.