Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Director John B. Williams Sells 2,830 Shares

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value of $71,004.70. Following the sale, the director now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Associated Banc Trading Up 1.4 %

ASB opened at $25.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.70. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1-year low of $19.76 and a 1-year high of $28.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.94.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASB. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Associated Banc by 154.3% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,073 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Associated Banc by 221.0% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,499 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 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. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 82.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.