South Dakota Investment Council Sells 23,616 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 203,966 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 23,616 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.13% of Associated Banc worth $4,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ASB. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Associated Banc by 82.1% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,190 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.00.

Associated Banc Stock Down 2.9 %

NYSE ASB opened at $24.37 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1-year low of $19.76 and a 1-year high of $28.18. The company has a 50 day moving average of $24.67 and a 200-day moving average of $23.80. The company has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.84, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 yield of 3.78%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.46%.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In related news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value of $71,004.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,678,897.35. This trade represents a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.