Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Shares Purchased by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 30.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 80,363 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,527 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $1,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ASB. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Associated Banc by 92.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,433,301 shares of the bank’s stock worth $24,524,000 after acquiring an additional 687,552 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Associated Banc by 2,344.7% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 709,170 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,134,000 after purchasing an additional 680,161 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,561,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,404,000. Finally, WBI Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Associated Banc during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,631,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ASB. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Associated Banc from $21.50 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Barclays increased their price target 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, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Friday, April 26th. One equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Associated Banc has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.13.

Associated Banc Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ASB opened at $22.40 on Thursday. Associated Banc-Corp has a fifty-two week low of $14.47 and a fifty-two week high of $22.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.12. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.99.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $322.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $325.00 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Associated Banc news, EVP John A. Utz sold 14,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total transaction of $297,012.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,905,456. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP John A. Utz sold 14,010 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total transaction of $297,012.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,905,456. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 value of $105,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 50,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,053,648.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 26,529 shares of company stock worth $564,115. 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.