Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.11.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ASB shares. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total transaction of $71,004.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total transaction of $172,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,223,021.45. This represents a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Associated Banc

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASB. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Associated Banc by 385.5% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,612 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the 4th quarter valued at $37,662,000. 111 Capital purchased a new stake in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter valued at about $862,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Associated Banc by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,652 shares of the bank’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 3,191 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the fourth quarter worth $7,831,000. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Associated Banc Trading Down 3.3 %

Associated Banc stock opened at $19.36 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.02. Associated Banc has a 52 week low of $18.36 and a 52 week high of $28.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.88.

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 return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. Equities research analysts forecast that Associated Banc will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is 116.46%.

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.