Securian Asset Management Inc. Acquires 619 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,165 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ASB. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Associated Banc by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 80,294 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,919,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Associated Banc by 49.6% in the fourth 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. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 16,182 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 10,464 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 864 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 value of $71,004.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 66,915 shares in the company, valued at $1,678,897.35. This represents a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total transaction of $172,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,223,021.45. This trade represents a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on ASB shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Associated Banc presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.11.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

NYSE:ASB opened at $22.43 on Wednesday. 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 fifty day moving average of $24.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 28.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. Associated Banc-Corp has a fifty-two week low of $19.76 and a fifty-two week high of $28.18.

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, 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.