Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Receives $26.00 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.00.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ASB. Barclays increased their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Associated Banc Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of ASB opened at $25.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day moving average of $25.35 and a 200 day moving average of $23.30. Associated Banc has a 1-year low of $19.40 and a 1-year high of $28.18.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 previous year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Associated Banc will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This is an increase 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 3.65%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.67%.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,423,934.76. This represents a 15.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total transaction of $810,172.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,222,406.03. This represents a 26.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Associated Banc

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASB. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Associated Banc by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 4.9% during the second 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 boosted its position in Associated Banc by 2.8% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,461 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Associated Banc by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 27,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Associated Banc by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 50,680 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.