Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $26.31 and last traded at $26.26, with a volume of 207039 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Baird R W lowered shares of Associated Banc from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.89.

Associated Banc Stock Down 4.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.72.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $607.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.52 million. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 8.15%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. This is an increase from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.78, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total transaction of $460,674.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100,204 shares in the company, valued at $2,423,934.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,269,730.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,105 shares of company stock worth $671,324. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management increased its position in Associated Banc by 43.3% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,050,813 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,216 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 291.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,563,274 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,807 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,149,355 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,309,000 after purchasing an additional 123,271 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 6.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Interval Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 442,947 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,368,000 after purchasing an additional 95,928 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.