Barclays PLC Buys 125,899 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Barclays PLC lifted its position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 371,448 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 125,899 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.25% of Associated Banc worth $8,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised 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 worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Associated Banc by 2.8% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Associated Banc by 1.4% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,068 shares of the bank’s stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted 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 purchasing an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 1.3% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 50,680 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. 82.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In other news, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 100,204 shares in the company, valued at $2,423,934.76. The trade was a 15.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Associated Banc Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE:ASB opened at $25.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.97 and a 200 day moving average of $22.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52 week low of $19.40 and a 52 week high of $28.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 8.15%. The firm had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $336.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change 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 3.67%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is 76.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ASB shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.89.

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.