Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Price Target Raised to $26.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $24.00 to $26.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on ASB. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.33.

Associated Banc Price Performance

ASB stock opened at $25.95 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Associated Banc has a 52 week low of $18.56 and a 52 week high of $28.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $24.01 and its 200 day moving average is $22.32. The firm has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. 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 yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.67%.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, Director Lith Karen Van sold 8,061 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.48, for a total value of $165,089.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,108,254.72. The trade was a 12.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,222,406.03. This trade represents a 26.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,641 shares of company stock valued at $1,435,936 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 4.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 11,312 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 2.8% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,461 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 1.4% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,068 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 2.4% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 27,082 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Associated Banc by 1.3% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 50,680 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the period. 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.