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

Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.89.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

NYSE:ASB opened at $27.03 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.51 and its 200 day moving average is $22.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 22.53, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Associated Banc has a fifty-two week low of $17.30 and a fifty-two week 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, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.52 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Associated Banc will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is an increase from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is 76.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 99,637 shares in the company, valued at $2,269,730.86. The trade was a 1.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total transaction of $810,172.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,222,406.03. The trade was a 26.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,641 shares of company stock valued at $1,481,496 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Associated Banc

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,584,271 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $77,219,000 after buying an additional 79,658 shares in the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 125,899 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in Associated Banc in the third quarter worth approximately $268,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Associated Banc by 3.3% in the third 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. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the 3rd quarter worth $291,000. 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.