Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its position in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 182,979 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,801 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.12% of Associated Banc worth $3,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Associated Banc in the fourth quarter valued at $36,722,000. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 43.3% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,050,813 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224,216 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 2,181,042 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,652,000 after acquiring an additional 728,555 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Associated Banc in the first quarter valued at $8,057,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,835,562 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $231,776,000 after acquiring an additional 229,552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Associated Banc news, EVP Randall J. Erickson sold 23,774 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.99, for a total transaction of $546,564.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 128,680 shares in the company, valued at $2,958,353.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Associated Banc Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE ASB opened at $22.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.95. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52-week low of $15.16 and a 52-week high of $24.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $21.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.52. Associated Banc had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 8.14%. The firm had revenue of $321.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $330.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is currently 88.89%.

Associated Banc Profile

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.