Associated Banc-Corp $ASB Shares Sold by Paragon Capital Management Ltd

Paragon Capital Management Ltd lessened its holdings in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,677 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,897 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $236,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Associated Banc by 139.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,748,667 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598,951 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,321,120 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,295,000 after acquiring an additional 72,685 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 200.3% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,930,329 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,853,000 after buying an additional 1,287,458 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 12.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,841,927 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,499,000 after purchasing an additional 206,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Associated Banc during the 4th quarter valued at $37,662,000. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ASB. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Matthew R. Braeger sold 2,000 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total value of $52,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 13,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $351,533.64. This trade represents a 13.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 13,000 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.24, for a total transaction of $354,120.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 111,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,029,850.72. This represents a 10.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,342 shares of company stock valued at $494,360. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Associated Banc Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Associated Banc stock opened at $26.06 on Friday. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12-month low of $18.32 and a 12-month high of $28.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $25.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.85. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.84, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.84.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.03. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 5.79%.The company had revenue of $366.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $362.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.48%.

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.