Retirement Systems of Alabama Purchases 15,278 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 195,661 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,278 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.13% of Associated Banc worth $4,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ASB. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Associated Banc by 315.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 540,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,907,000 after acquiring an additional 410,118 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in Associated Banc by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,036,239 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,401,000 after acquiring an additional 305,133 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Associated Banc during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,082,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Associated Banc by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $177,282,000 after acquiring an additional 261,877 shares during the period. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,245,000. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of ASB opened at $24.91 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1 year low of $19.40 and a 1 year high of $28.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.60. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.94.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.24%. On average, equities analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ASB. StockNews.com cut shares of Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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 note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

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.