Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Director John B. Williams Sells 2,830 Shares

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value of $71,004.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 66,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,678,897.35. This trade represents a 4.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Associated Banc Price Performance

NYSE:ASB opened at $25.43 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.71. The stock has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.94. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52 week low of $19.76 and a 52 week high of $28.18.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. As a group, analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Associated Banc

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 221.6% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 163,003 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,511,000 after buying an additional 112,323 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $177,282,000 after buying an additional 261,877 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Associated Banc by 11,595.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 76,370 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 75,717 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Associated Banc by 315.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 540,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,907,000 after purchasing an additional 410,118 shares during the period. Finally, Crescent Grove Advisors LLC raised its position in Associated Banc by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 101,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,428,000 after purchasing an additional 13,521 shares during the period. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ASB. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Associated Banc Company 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.