Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Price Target Raised to $28.00

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) had its price objective upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $25.00 to $28.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.89.

Associated Banc Stock Down 0.2 %

Associated Banc stock opened at $26.01 on Wednesday. Associated Banc has a fifty-two week low of $18.96 and a fifty-two week high of $28.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $24.38 and its 200-day moving average is $22.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

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

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. This is a boost from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Associated Banc news, Director Lith Karen Van sold 8,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.48, for a total transaction of $165,089.28. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 54,114 shares in the company, valued at $1,108,254.72. This represents a 12.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 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. Insiders sold 56,641 shares of company stock valued at $1,435,936 over the last quarter. 1.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Associated Banc

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASB. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Associated Banc by 221.6% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 163,003 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,511,000 after acquiring an additional 112,323 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc grew its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 411,761 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,647,000 after purchasing an additional 45,542 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Associated Banc by 54.8% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,729 shares of the bank’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 12,296 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP lifted its stake in Associated Banc by 27.6% in the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 442,947 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,368,000 after purchasing an additional 95,928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Associated Banc by 11.2% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,036,239 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,401,000 after buying an additional 305,133 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is 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.