South Dakota Investment Council Sells 23,616 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 203,966 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 23,616 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $4,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the third quarter worth $39,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the fourth quarter worth $64,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 82.1% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASB has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Associated Banc Price Performance

ASB stock opened at $24.37 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.84, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12-month low of $19.76 and a 12-month high of $28.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.80.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.24%. On average, analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given 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 3.78%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.46%.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

In other news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total transaction of $71,004.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 66,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,678,897.35. This represents a 4.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

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.