Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Now Covered by Truist Financial

Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $26.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ASB. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Associated Banc from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. Barclays lowered 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 note on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Associated Banc from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of ASB opened at $24.57 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average is $21.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.92. Associated Banc has a 1 year low of $18.32 and a 1 year high of $28.18.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $348.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $347.86 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.24%. Associated Banc’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Associated Banc 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is 106.98%.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Associated Banc in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,144,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Associated Banc by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $431,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,068 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Associated Banc in the 4th quarter valued at about $353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Associated Banc by 315.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 540,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,907,000 after purchasing an additional 410,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Associated Banc by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,838,422 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $354,638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272,441 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.