Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ASB. Stephens reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.78.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASB opened at $20.35 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $21.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Associated Banc has a 12 month low of $15.16 and a 12 month high of $22.77.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. Associated Banc had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The firm had revenue of $322.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $325.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Associated Banc will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nicole M. Kitowski sold 5,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.23, for a total transaction of $106,553.37. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 37,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $806,591.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Nicole M. Kitowski sold 5,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.23, for a total transaction of $106,553.37. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 37,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,591.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.18, for a total transaction of $55,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 100,922 shares in the company, valued at $2,238,449.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Associated Banc

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASB. Norges Bank bought a new position in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter worth $36,722,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Associated Banc by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,639,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $334,522,000 after buying an additional 184,813 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in Associated Banc by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,181,042 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,652,000 after buying an additional 728,555 shares during the last quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Mairs & Power Inc. now owns 399,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,541,000 after purchasing an additional 48,432 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the fourth quarter valued at $892,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.