Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Given New $26.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) had its price objective increased by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $24.00 to $26.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the bank’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective suggests a potential downside of 0.46% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on ASB. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Associated Banc currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.78.

Associated Banc Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Associated Banc stock opened at $26.12 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.37. The company has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Associated Banc has a 1 year low of $18.63 and a 1 year high of $28.18.

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 firm had revenue of $607.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.52 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Associated Banc will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

In other news, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total value of $810,172.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,222,406.03. This trade represents a 26.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,641 shares of company stock valued at $1,435,936. 1.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Associated Banc

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Associated Banc by 0.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 144,521 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,192,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Associated Banc by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,584,271 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $77,219,000 after acquiring an additional 79,658 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Associated Banc by 51.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 371,448 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,002,000 after acquiring an additional 125,899 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the third quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 261,877 shares during the period. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.