Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Boosts Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Price Target to $30.00

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “market perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price indicates a potential upside of 18.54% from the company’s current price.

ASB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.33.

Associated Banc Stock Down 0.8 %

Associated Banc stock opened at $25.31 on Friday. Associated Banc has a fifty-two week low of $19.40 and a fifty-two week high of $28.18. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 8.18%. Equities analysts anticipate that Associated Banc will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total transaction of $460,674.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 100,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,423,934.76. This trade represents a 15.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the business’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 value of $810,172.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,406.03. The trade was a 26.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Associated Banc

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $343,000. EMC Capital Management boosted its position in Associated Banc by 13,834.5% in the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 27,869 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 27,669 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the fourth quarter worth $56,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 72.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,023 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 2,952 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.