Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.04 EPS

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04, Zacks reports. Associated Banc had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 8.18%.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

ASB stock opened at $25.09 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.40. Associated Banc has a fifty-two week low of $19.40 and a fifty-two week high of $28.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.94.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a boost from Associated Banc’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is 76.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised Associated Banc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Associated Banc

In related news, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total value of $460,674.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,204 shares in the company, valued at $2,423,934.76. This represents a 15.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total transaction of $810,172.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,406.03. The trade was a 26.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.45% 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.