M&G Plc Grows Stock Position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

M&G Plc increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 411,761 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,542 shares during the quarter. M&G Plc owned 0.27% of Associated Banc worth $8,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ASB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the fourth quarter worth about $36,722,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Associated Banc by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,639,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $334,522,000 after purchasing an additional 184,813 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of Associated Banc by 50.2% in the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,181,042 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,652,000 after purchasing an additional 728,555 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the 1st quarter valued at $866,000. Finally, Mairs & Power Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 48,432 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of ASB stock opened at $20.60 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.10. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.95. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12-month low of $15.16 and a 12-month high of $24.21.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.14% and a net margin of 7.93%. The firm had revenue of $321.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Associated Banc’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Randall J. Erickson sold 23,774 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total transaction of $546,564.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 128,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,958,353.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ASB shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Associated Banc from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com raised Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.67.

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.