Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Rating Reiterated by Stephens

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reiterated by research analysts at Stephens in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $23.00 target price on the bank’s stock. Stephens’ price target indicates a potential upside of 6.63% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on ASB. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.13.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of Associated Banc stock opened at $21.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.78. 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 1 year low of $14.47 and a 1 year high of $22.16.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $322.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.00 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.33%. Associated Banc’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Associated Banc will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Associated Banc

In other news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,126 shares in the company, valued at $1,053,648.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,126 shares in the company, valued at $1,053,648.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were 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 90 days, insiders have sold 21,710 shares of company stock worth $454,897. 1.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 470.2% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 1,169 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 964 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Associated Banc during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Associated Banc by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Associated Banc by 183.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,860 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by 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.