Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Friday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ASB. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.00.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ASB opened at $25.15 on Friday. 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 has a 1 year low of $19.40 and a 1 year high of $28.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $25.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.52. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 31.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.94.

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 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. Equities analysts anticipate that Associated Banc will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is currently 116.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total transaction of $810,172.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,406.03. This trade represents a 26.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Associated Banc by 221.6% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 163,003 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,511,000 after acquiring an additional 112,323 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $177,282,000 after purchasing an additional 261,877 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Associated Banc by 11,595.3% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 76,370 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 75,717 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Associated Banc by 315.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 540,057 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,907,000 after purchasing an additional 410,118 shares during the period. Finally, Crescent Grove Advisors LLC raised its position in Associated Banc by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 101,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,428,000 after purchasing an additional 13,521 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

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.