Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 160,194 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,264 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $3,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 114.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 96,752 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,084,000 after acquiring an additional 51,672 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the 3rd quarter worth about $955,000. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 21,593 shares of the bank’s stock worth $465,000 after acquiring an additional 4,274 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 509,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,964,000 after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 61,713 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,329,000 after acquiring an additional 4,370 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ASB shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.33.

Associated Banc Trading Down 1.4 %

ASB opened at $25.95 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.32. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1-year low of $18.56 and a 1-year high of $28.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. Associated Banc had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The business had revenue of $607.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.52 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. Analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. This is a positive change from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 owns 81,021 shares in the company, valued at $2,222,406.03. This trade represents a 26.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total transaction of $460,674.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 100,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,423,934.76. This represents a 15.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,641 shares of company stock valued at $1,435,936 in the last ninety days. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Associated Banc 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.