159,680 Shares in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Purchased by Castleark Management LLC

Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 159,680 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $3,816,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ASB shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Associated Banc from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Associated Banc presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

Associated Banc Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of NYSE:ASB opened at $23.12 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.93. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52 week low of $18.32 and a 52 week high of $28.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is presently 106.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Andrew J. Harmening acquired 12,910 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.25 per share, with a total value of $300,157.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 319,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,423,004.25. This trade represents a 4.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total value of $172,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,021.45. This trade represents a 12.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc 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.