North Star Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

North Star Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 110,676 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,125 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.07% of Associated Banc worth $2,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its position in Associated Banc by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 58,001 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,386,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Associated Banc by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,518 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Associated Banc by 1.5% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 33,238 shares of the bank’s stock worth $749,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Associated Banc by 11.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,251 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 17,882 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Andrew J. Harmening acquired 12,910 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.25 per share, for a total transaction of $300,157.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 319,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,423,004.25. This trade represents a 4.21% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ASB. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.78.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of ASB stock opened at $25.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.29 and a 200-day moving average of $23.51. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52 week low of $18.32 and a 52 week high of $28.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.80.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $366.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $362.78 million. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 5.79%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is currently 119.48%.

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.