Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 34.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,677 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 9,124 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Associated Banc by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Associated Banc by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,312 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 2.8% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,461 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Associated Banc by 2.4% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 27,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 1.3% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 50,680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

ASB opened at $25.17 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $25.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.30. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.94. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1-year low of $19.40 and a 1-year high of $28.18.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its 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 return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 8.15%. The business had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $336.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.23 dividend. This is an increase from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is presently 76.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $460,674.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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. This represents a 26.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ASB shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

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.