Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04, Zacks reports. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 8.15%.

Associated Banc Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Associated Banc stock traded down $0.21 on Thursday, hitting $25.31. The stock had a trading volume of 2,054,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,650,696. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Associated Banc has a one year low of $19.40 and a one year high of $28.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.36. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is 76.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ASB shares. Barclays raised their price target 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. Piper Sandler raised their target price on 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 upped their price target on Associated Banc from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of 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 given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total value of $460,674.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,423,934.76. This represents a 15.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total transaction of $810,172.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,021 shares in the company, valued at $2,222,406.03. The trade was a 26.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.