Short Interest in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Declines By 12.2%

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) saw a large decrease in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,410,000 shares, a decrease of 12.2% from the April 30th total of 6,160,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Associated Banc Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of ASB stock opened at $22.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.98, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.79. Associated Banc has a 1-year low of $18.32 and a 1-year 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.67.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.24%. The firm had revenue of $348.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $347.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Associated Banc’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Associated Banc will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. Associated Banc’s payout ratio is 106.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ASB shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Associated Banc

In other news, CEO Andrew J. Harmening bought 12,910 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $23.25 per share, for a total transaction of $300,157.50. Following the acquisition, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invst LLC purchased a new position in Associated Banc in the first quarter valued at approximately $723,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Associated Banc in the first quarter valued at approximately $435,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Associated Banc by 41.3% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 111,733 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,517,000 after buying an additional 32,660 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Associated Banc by 13.9% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 496,392 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,184,000 after buying an additional 60,758 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Associated Banc by 139.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,748,667 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,598,951 shares in the last quarter. 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.