Piper Sandler Lowers Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Price Target to $24.00

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB – Get Rating) had its target price reduced by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $26.00 to $24.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the bank’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 9.74% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Tuesday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Associated Banc from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $26.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Associated Banc in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Associated Banc presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.60.

Shares of ASB opened at $21.87 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.02. Associated Banc has a 12-month low of $18.40 and a 12-month high of $25.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.09. Associated Banc had a net margin of 31.05% and a return on equity of 9.22%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Associated Banc will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other news, EVP Matthew R. Braeger sold 10,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.47, for a total transaction of $280,017.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lith Karen Van sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.86, for a total transaction of $102,870.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,394 shares of company stock valued at $623,240. Company insiders own 3.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,540,484 shares of the bank’s stock worth $396,237,000 after acquiring an additional 375,548 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Associated Banc by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,498,138 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,023,000 after purchasing an additional 20,871 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 160.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,913,446 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796,682 shares during the last quarter. Associated Banc Corp increased its position in shares of Associated Banc by 2.4% in the third quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 2,690,649 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,634,000 after buying an additional 64,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the fourth quarter valued at $53,255,000. Institutional investors own 77.86% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Company Profile (Get Rating)

Associated Banc-Corp, a bank holding company, provides various banking and nonbanking products to individuals and businesses in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. The company operates through three segments: Corporate and Commercial Specialty; Community, Consumer, and Business; and Risk Management and Shared Services.

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