Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Price Target Raised to $22.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $20.00 to $22.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $22.63.

Associated Banc Price Performance

ASB stock opened at $20.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.88. Associated Banc has a 52-week low of $14.47 and a 52-week high of $22.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.48.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 8.12%. The firm had revenue of $322.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $325.89 million. Research analysts expect that Associated Banc will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is currently 77.88%.

Insider Transactions at Associated Banc

In other news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total value of $105,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 50,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,053,648.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total value of $105,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 50,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,053,648.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total transaction of $52,785.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 62,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,229,225.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,710 shares of company stock valued at $454,897. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Associated Banc in the fourth quarter worth $36,722,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Associated Banc by 13.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,356,990 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $151,864,000 after buying an additional 1,118,108 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Associated Banc by 50.2% during the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,181,042 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,652,000 after buying an additional 728,555 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Associated Banc by 325.5% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 905,941 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,703,000 after buying an additional 693,010 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Associated Banc by 92.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,433,301 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,524,000 after buying an additional 687,552 shares during the period. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.