Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Buys 2,132 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp $ASB

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 14.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,998 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,132 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 80,262 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,958,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 33,238 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,251 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Associated Banc by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,688 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its position in Associated Banc by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 23,554 shares of the bank’s stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ASB. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on Associated Banc from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Associated Banc in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.11.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In related news, EVP Patrick Edward Ahern sold 3,342 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total value of $87,560.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,086,566.40. This trade represents a 7.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.24, for a total transaction of $354,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 111,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,029,850.72. The trade was a 10.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,342 shares of company stock valued at $494,360. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:ASB opened at $25.21 on Thursday. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12 month low of $18.32 and a 12 month high of $28.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.28. 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 company has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 32.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.82.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $366.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is presently 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.