Robert W. Baird Cuts Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Price Target to $25.00

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) had its target price dropped by equities research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $27.00 to $25.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the bank’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 4.47% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of Associated Banc from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.44.

Associated Banc Trading Up 3.4 %

Associated Banc stock opened at $23.93 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.17, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.95. Associated Banc has a one year low of $15.16 and a one year high of $24.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $21.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.10.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. The firm had revenue of $321.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.69 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Associated Banc will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Associated Banc news, EVP Nicole M. Kitowski sold 5,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.23, for a total transaction of $106,553.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,993 shares in the company, valued at $806,591.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Associated Banc news, EVP Nicole M. Kitowski sold 5,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.23, for a total transaction of $106,553.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,993 shares in the company, valued at $806,591.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.18, for a total transaction of $55,450.00. Following 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. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,722,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,639,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $334,522,000 after buying an additional 184,813 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 50.2% during the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,181,042 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,652,000 after buying an additional 728,555 shares in the last quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 399,310 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,541,000 after buying an additional 48,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the fourth quarter worth approximately $892,000. Institutional investors 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.