KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Invests $717,000 in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 30,000 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $717,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the fourth quarter valued at $353,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Associated Banc by 11,595.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 76,370 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after buying an additional 75,717 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Associated Banc by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $177,282,000 after acquiring an additional 261,877 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Associated Banc by 315.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 540,057 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,907,000 after acquiring an additional 410,118 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Associated Banc by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,248,435 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,738,000 after acquiring an additional 111,310 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.11.

Associated Banc Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Associated Banc stock opened at $22.19 on Wednesday. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1 year low of $19.76 and a 1 year high of $28.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.06. The company has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) 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, sell-side analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is presently 116.46%.

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.