Verition Fund Management LLC Acquires 305,133 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,036,239 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 305,133 shares during the period. Associated Banc makes up about 0.3% of Verition Fund Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $65,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Associated Banc by 291.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,563,274 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,063,000 after buying an additional 1,163,807 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,149,355 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,309,000 after acquiring an additional 123,271 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 221.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 163,003 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,511,000 after acquiring an additional 112,323 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP grew its position in Associated Banc by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 442,947 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,368,000 after acquiring an additional 95,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Associated Banc in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,935,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Associated Banc news, Director Lith Karen Van sold 8,061 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.48, for a total value of $165,089.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,108,254.72. This represents a 12.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,641 shares of company stock worth $1,435,936. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.89.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of Associated Banc stock opened at $26.72 on Friday. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1-year low of $17.30 and a 1-year high of $28.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $23.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.26. The company has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.91.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.52 million. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 8.15%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.33%.

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.