Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Has $1.83 Million Position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 11,595.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,370 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 75,717 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $1,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 32,830 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,548 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 1.4% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,068 shares of the bank’s stock worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in Associated Banc by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 130,949 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,770,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Associated Banc by 138.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,222 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 4,775 shares during the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of Associated Banc 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,222,406.03. The trade was a 26.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,423,934.76. This trade represents a 15.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ASB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Shares of ASB opened at $23.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.94. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52-week low of $19.40 and a 52-week high of $28.18. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $25.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.10.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.06. The company 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 in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a boost from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is presently 76.67%.

Associated Banc 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.