Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 369,548 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,876 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Associated Banc worth $8,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 3.3% during the 3rd 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. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 2.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,584,271 shares of the bank’s stock worth $77,219,000 after buying an additional 79,658 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in Associated Banc by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,036,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,401,000 after purchasing an additional 305,133 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,137,125 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,034,000 after buying an additional 17,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 6.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 592,472 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,762,000 after purchasing an additional 34,824 shares during the period. 82.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Associated Banc Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Associated Banc stock opened at $24.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $24.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.92. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12-month low of $19.76 and a 12-month high of $28.18.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.24%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is 116.46%.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value of $71,004.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 66,915 shares in the company, valued at $1,678,897.35. This trade represents a 4.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

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.