Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $3.98 Million Stock Holdings in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 186,129 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,312 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $3,981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Associated Banc in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter worth $84,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter worth $92,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new stake in Associated Banc in the third quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the 3rd quarter valued at about $95,000. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ASB shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Associated Banc from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Associated Banc from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.13.

Associated Banc Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Associated Banc stock opened at $22.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.93 and a 200-day moving average of $20.05. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52-week low of $14.47 and a 52-week high of $22.32. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.99.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. Associated Banc had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The business had revenue of $322.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $325.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.11 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total transaction of $105,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 50,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,053,648.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Associated Banc news, EVP Nicole M. Kitowski sold 5,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.23, for a total value of $106,553.37. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 37,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,591.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.02, for a total transaction of $105,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 50,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,053,648.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,729 shares of company stock valued at $561,450 over the last 90 days. 1.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.