Wells Fargo & Company Increases Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Price Target to $26.00

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $24.00 to $26.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the bank’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays upped their price objective on Associated Banc from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.89.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Associated Banc stock opened at $26.06 on Tuesday. Associated Banc has a twelve month low of $18.88 and a twelve month high of $28.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $24.29 and its 200 day moving average is $22.40.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.52 million. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 8.15%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Associated Banc will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is 76.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total transaction of $460,674.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 100,204 shares in the company, valued at $2,423,934.76. This trade represents a 15.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lith Karen Van sold 8,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.48, for a total transaction of $165,089.28. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,108,254.72. This represents a 12.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,641 shares of company stock worth $1,435,936 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Associated Banc

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Associated Banc by 291.3% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,563,274 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,807 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,036,239 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,401,000 after buying an additional 305,133 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Associated Banc during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $6,082,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Associated Banc by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $177,282,000 after acquiring an additional 261,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,245,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% 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.