Hsbc Holdings PLC Grows Stake in Associated Banc-Corp $ASB

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 25.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,146 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,892 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 2.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 379,996 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,561,000 after acquiring an additional 10,448 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 11.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,251 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Associated Banc by 38.0% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC purchased a new position in Associated Banc in the first quarter valued at about $1,842,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in Associated Banc in the first quarter valued at about $541,000. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Associated Banc stock opened at $26.23 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a PE ratio of 34.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.84. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1-year low of $18.32 and a 1-year high of $28.18.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $366.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.78 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 8.86%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, analysts expect 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 will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is 119.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ASB. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John A. Utz sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.24, for a total transaction of $354,120.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 111,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,029,850.72. This represents a 10.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.