Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Makes New $221,000 Investment in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,229 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $431,798,000 after buying an additional 1,444,068 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Associated Banc by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,838,422 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $354,638,000 after acquiring an additional 1,272,441 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Associated Banc by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,849,649 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $92,026,000 after acquiring an additional 265,378 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Associated Banc by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,248,435 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,738,000 after purchasing an additional 111,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,182,882 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,171,000 after purchasing an additional 362,267 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total transaction of $172,970.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,021.45. The trade was a 12.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value of $71,004.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 66,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,678,897.35. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on ASB. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. 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 research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Associated Banc from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. StockNews.com cut Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Shares of Associated Banc stock opened at $23.20 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.37, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.90. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12 month low of $18.32 and a 12 month high of $28.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. The firm had revenue of $348.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio is currently 106.98%.

Associated Banc Company Profile

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.