Associated Banc’s (ASB) Equal Weight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $28.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on ASB. StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Associated Banc currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.67.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

NYSE:ASB opened at $25.09 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.40. Associated Banc has a fifty-two week low of $19.40 and a fifty-two week high of $28.18.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 research analysts forecast that Associated Banc will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a positive change from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total value of $460,674.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,423,934.76. The trade was a 15.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $810,172.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,406.03. This represents a 26.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASB. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Associated Banc by 4.9% in 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 period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Associated Banc in the second quarter valued at $415,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Associated Banc by 1.3% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 50,680 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its stake in Associated Banc by 43.0% in the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 28,313 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 8,513 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Associated Banc by 12.0% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,149,355 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,309,000 after purchasing an additional 123,271 shares during the period. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.