Savant Capital LLC Lowers Stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Savant Capital LLC cut its holdings in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,780 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,626 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 18,355 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Associated Banc by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 56,137 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Associated Banc by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 195,661 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,676,000 after acquiring an additional 15,278 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. grew its stake in Associated Banc by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 46,083 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 5,111 shares during the period. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the 4th quarter valued at $343,000. 82.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ASB shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Associated Banc has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Shares of ASB opened at $25.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.74, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.74 and a 200-day moving average of $23.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52 week low of $19.76 and a 52 week high of $28.18.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. As a group, analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is 116.46%.

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.