Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.67.

ASB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of Associated Banc from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th.

Associated Banc Price Performance

NYSE:ASB opened at $22.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.13. Associated Banc has a 1-year low of $15.16 and a 1-year high of $24.21.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. The company had revenue of $321.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.69 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 8.14%. The firm’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Associated Banc will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In other news, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.18, for a total value of $55,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,238,449.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.18, for a total value of $55,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,238,449.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Gregory Schmidt 23,673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The disclosure for this trade can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Associated Banc

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 184,813 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Associated Banc by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,835,562 shares of the bank’s stock worth $231,776,000 after acquiring an additional 229,552 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in Associated Banc by 43.3% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,050,813 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,216 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Associated Banc by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,254,457 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,223,000 after acquiring an additional 40,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in Associated Banc by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,181,042 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,652,000 after acquiring an additional 728,555 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.