Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Reduces Holdings in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lowered its position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 55.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 51,516 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 63,141 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $1,110,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Associated Banc by 291.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,563,274 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,807 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 11.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,036,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,401,000 after buying an additional 305,133 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Associated Banc in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,082,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $177,282,000 after acquiring an additional 261,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the 3rd quarter worth $3,245,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Stock Down 4.8 %

Associated Banc stock opened at $23.89 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.67. Associated Banc-Corp has a fifty-two week low of $19.40 and a fifty-two week high of $28.18. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 8.15%. The business had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $336.52 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is 76.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ASB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Associated Banc from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.89.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

In other news, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $2,423,934.76. This represents a 15.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Corporate insiders own 1.45% 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.