Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 46,630 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,830,125 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 46,630 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 7.18% of Associated Banc worth $229,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ASB. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 138.5% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in Associated Banc by 0.6% during the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 130,949 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,770,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the second quarter worth about $38,000. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 346,423 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,327,000 after purchasing an additional 17,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,068 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, EVP Randall J. Erickson sold 23,774 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total value of $546,564.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,680 shares in the company, valued at $2,958,353.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.78, for a total value of $45,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,637 shares in the company, valued at $2,269,730.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Randall J. Erickson sold 23,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total transaction of $546,564.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 128,680 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,958,353.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,835 shares of company stock worth $757,214 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of ASB stock opened at $21.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Associated Banc-Corp has a one year low of $15.16 and a one year high of $24.21.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. The company had revenue of $321.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $330.69 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 8.14%. Associated Banc’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is 88.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ASB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. StockNews.com raised Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Associated Banc presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.67.

Associated Banc 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.