Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates Sector Perform Rating for Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB)

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $28.00 target price on the bank’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 7.65% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on ASB. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Associated Banc from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Ten 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.89.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

NYSE ASB opened at $26.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Associated Banc has a 1-year low of $18.96 and a 1-year high of $28.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.43.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $336.52 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Associated Banc will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lith Karen Van sold 8,061 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.48, for a total transaction of $165,089.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,108,254.72. The trade was a 12.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total value of $810,172.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,222,406.03. The trade was a 26.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,641 shares of company stock valued at $1,435,936 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Associated Banc during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Associated Banc during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 82.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,438 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the 2nd quarter valued at about $93,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $140,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

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.