Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.89.

Several brokerages have issued reports on ASB. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Baird R W cut shares of Associated Banc from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target 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.

Associated Banc Price Performance

NYSE:ASB opened at $23.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.55. Associated Banc has a 1-year low of $16.19 and a 1-year high of $24.31.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.52 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 8.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Associated Banc will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. This is a positive change from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,423,934.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Lith Karen Van sold 8,061 shares of the company’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 value of $165,089.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,108,254.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total value of $460,674.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,423,934.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,105 shares of company stock worth $671,324. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Associated Banc

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 43.3% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,050,813 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,216 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 291.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,563,274 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,063,000 after acquiring an additional 1,163,807 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 12.0% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,149,355 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,309,000 after acquiring an additional 123,271 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 27.6% in the second quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 442,947 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,368,000 after acquiring an additional 95,928 shares during the period. Finally, M&G PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 2.9% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 423,903 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,326,000 after acquiring an additional 12,142 shares during the period. 82.98% of the stock is 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.