Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 111,310 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,248,435 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 111,310 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.49% of Associated Banc worth $53,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ASB. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 79,658 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in Associated Banc by 11.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,036,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,401,000 after acquiring an additional 305,133 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,761,584 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,102,000 after purchasing an additional 31,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased 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 last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value of $71,004.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 66,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,678,897.35. The trade was a 4.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total value of $172,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,021.45. This trade represents a 12.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

NYSE ASB opened at $21.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.98. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1-year low of $19.76 and a 1-year high of $28.18.

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

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Associated Banc from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.11.

Associated Banc Company 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.