Associated Banc’s (ASB) Equal Weight Rating Reaffirmed at Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $28.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays upped their target price on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.67.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of ASB stock opened at $25.09 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.40. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Associated Banc has a 12-month low of $19.40 and a 12-month high of $28.18.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 8.15%. Analysts expect that Associated Banc will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.67%.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

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

Institutional Trading of Associated Banc

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,312 shares of the bank’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,461 shares of the bank’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 27,082 shares of the bank’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 50,680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.