Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Increases Stock Holdings in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,539 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,806 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Associated Banc by 49.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,747 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Associated Banc in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the 4th quarter worth $64,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the 4th quarter worth about $67,000. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Associated Banc news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value of $71,004.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 66,915 shares in the company, valued at $1,678,897.35. This trade represents a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total value of $172,970.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,223,021.45. This 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.

Associated Banc Trading Down 1.0 %

ASB opened at $22.88 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $24.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12 month low of $19.76 and a 12 month high of $28.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. Sell-side analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders 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 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 116.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ASB. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com cut Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.11.

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.