Associated Banc-Corp $ASB Shares Acquired by Pzena Investment Management LLC

Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,859,542 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,676 shares during the quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Associated Banc were worth $45,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ASB. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 77.7% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,907 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the period. Richardson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the second quarter worth $49,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 17.9% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,688 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 38.0% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the bank’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 11.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,251 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company’s stock.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

ASB opened at $24.68 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $4.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.05, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.82. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52-week low of $18.32 and a 52-week high of $28.18. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.11.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $366.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $362.78 million. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 8.86%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Associated Banc’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ASB. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Associated Banc

In other news, EVP Patrick Edward Ahern sold 3,342 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total value of $87,560.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 41,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,086,566.40. This trade represents a 7.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John A. Utz sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.24, for a total transaction of $354,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 111,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,029,850.72. This represents a 10.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,342 shares of company stock valued at $494,360 over the last ninety days. 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.