Head-To-Head Contrast: German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) & Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB)

German American Bancorp (NASDAQ:GABC) and Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares German American Bancorp and Associated Banc’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
German American Bancorp	20.84%	11.59%	1.42%
Associated Banc	5.79%	8.86%	0.91%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares German American Bancorp and Associated Banc”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
German American Bancorp	$353.70 million	4.24	$83.81 million	$2.63	15.22
Associated Banc	$2.39 billion	1.74	$123.14 million	$0.77	32.63

Associated Banc has higher revenue and earnings than German American Bancorp. German American Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Associated Banc, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

German American Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Associated Banc pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. German American Bancorp pays out 44.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Associated Banc pays out 119.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. German American Bancorp has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Associated Banc has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for German American Bancorp and Associated Banc, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
German American Bancorp	0	2	2	0	2.50
Associated Banc	0	7	2	0	2.22

German American Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $46.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.94%. Associated Banc has a consensus target price of $27.7778, suggesting a potential upside of 10.56%. Given German American Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe German American Bancorp is more favorable than Associated Banc.

Risk and Volatility

German American Bancorp has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Associated Banc has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

46.9% of German American Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.0% of Associated Banc shares are held by institutional investors. 4.6% of German American Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Associated Banc shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

German American Bancorp beats Associated Banc on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About German American Bancorp

German American Bancorp, Inc. operates as a financial holding company for German American Bank that provides retail and commercial banking services. The company operates through three segments: Core Banking, Wealth Management Services, and Insurance Operations. The Core Banking segment accepts deposits from the general public; and originates consumer, commercial and agricultural, commercial and agricultural real estate, and residential mortgage loans, as well as sells residential mortgage loans in the secondary market. The Wealth Management segment provides trust, investment advisory, brokerage, and retirement planning services. The Insurance Operations segment offers a range of personal and corporate property and casualty insurance products. It also offers checking, saving, and individual retirement accounts; certificates of deposit; wire transfer; credit cards; home equity, mortgages, and small business; treasury management; and online and mobile banking, bill pay, digital wallet, mobile check deposit, credit score and report, money management, and estatements, as well as wealth advisory. German American Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1910 and is based in Jasper, Indiana.

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. It also provides deposit and cash management solutions, such as commercial checking and interest-bearing deposit products, cash vault and night depository services, liquidity solutions, payables and receivables solutions, and information services; specialized financial services, such as interest rate risk management and foreign exchange solutions; fiduciary services, such as administration of pension, profit-sharing and other employee benefit plans, fiduciary and corporate agency services, and institutional asset management services; and investable funds solutions, including savings, money market deposit accounts, IRA accounts, CDs, fixed and variable annuities, full-service, discount, and online investment brokerage; investment advisory services; and trust and investment management accounts. In addition, the company offers deposit and transactional solutions, including checking, credit, debit and pre-paid cards, online banking and bill pay; and money transfer services. Associated Banc-Corp was founded in 1861 and is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin.