Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on ASB. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Stephens reiterated an equal weight rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $22.78.

Associated Banc Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE ASB opened at $20.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.00. Associated Banc has a 12 month low of $15.16 and a 12 month high of $22.77. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.95.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. Associated Banc had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The business had revenue of $322.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Associated Banc will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.18, for a total value of $55,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,238,449.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nicole M. Kitowski sold 5,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.23, for a total value of $106,553.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $806,591.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.18, for a total transaction of $55,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,238,449.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Associated Banc

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,639,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $334,522,000 after acquiring an additional 184,813 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,835,562 shares of the bank’s stock worth $231,776,000 after acquiring an additional 229,552 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,050,813 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,216 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,254,457 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,223,000 after acquiring an additional 40,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 50.2% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,181,042 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,652,000 after acquiring an additional 728,555 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

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.