Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 162,580 Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 162,580 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $3,886,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Associated Banc during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 49.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,747 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Associated Banc during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter valued at $67,000. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ASB shares. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total transaction of $71,004.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 66,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,678,897.35. This trade represents a 4.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,223,021.45. This represents a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Price Performance

NYSE ASB opened at $22.55 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.22 and its 200 day moving average is $23.96. Associated Banc-Corp has a fifty-two week low of $19.76 and a fifty-two week high of $28.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. Sell-side analysts predict that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.46%.

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.