Associated Banc-Corp (ASB) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.23 on December 16th

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 29th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.23 per share by the bank on Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22.

Associated Banc has raised its dividend by an average of 5.7% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Associated Banc has a payout ratio of 38.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Associated Banc to earn $2.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.9%.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASB traded down $0.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $23.95. 52,770 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,331,369. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Associated Banc has a fifty-two week low of $15.94 and a fifty-two week high of $24.31. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 24.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.52.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. Associated Banc had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 8.14%. The firm had revenue of $607.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.52 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Associated Banc will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In other news, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.78, for a total value of $45,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,269,730.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Lith Karen Van sold 8,061 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.48, for a total transaction 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 $1,108,254.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.78, for a total transaction of $45,560.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 99,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,269,730.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Baird R W downgraded shares of Associated Banc from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.89.

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.