Brokerages Set Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Target Price at $26.00

Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $26.00.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ASB. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th.

Associated Banc Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Associated Banc stock opened at $24.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93. Associated Banc has a 52-week low of $19.40 and a 52-week high of $28.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.84.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.52 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 8.18%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Associated Banc will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.67%.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In related news, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,222,406.03. This represents a 26.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Associated Banc by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $177,282,000 after acquiring an additional 261,877 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,584,271 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $77,219,000 after purchasing an additional 79,658 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 11.2% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,036,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,401,000 after purchasing an additional 305,133 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,137,125 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,034,000 after buying an additional 17,425 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Associated Banc by 291.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,563,274 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,063,000 after buying an additional 1,163,807 shares during 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.