Wells Fargo & Company MN Increases Stock Position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 21.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 115,710 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,805 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned approximately 0.08% of Associated Banc worth $2,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ASB. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the fourth quarter valued at $37,662,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,144,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $431,798,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444,068 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 75.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,088,796 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,022,000 after purchasing an additional 467,183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 315.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 540,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,907,000 after purchasing an additional 410,118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Trading Up 2.6 %

Associated Banc stock opened at $21.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $22.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.83. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1 year low of $18.32 and a 1 year high of $28.18. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.78.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. On average, equities analysts predict that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.46%.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total transaction of $71,004.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 66,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,678,897.35. The trade was a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total value of $172,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,223,021.45. The trade was a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ASB. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Associated Banc from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.67.

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.