Brokerages Set Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB) Price Target at $26.00

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $26.00.

ASB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Associated Banc from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Associated Banc from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP John A. Utz sold 19,044 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.19, for a total value of $460,674.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 100,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,423,934.76. This represents a 15.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David L. Stein sold 29,536 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.43, for a total transaction of $810,172.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,021 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,222,406.03. This trade represents a 26.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 291.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,563,274 shares of the bank's stock valued at $33,063,000 after buying an additional 1,163,807 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Associated Banc by 315.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 540,057 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,907,000 after purchasing an additional 410,118 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 11.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 3,036,239 shares of the bank's stock worth $65,401,000 after purchasing an additional 305,133 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Associated Banc in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,082,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 3.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank's stock valued at $177,282,000 after purchasing an additional 261,877 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Shares of ASB stock traded down $0.34 on Thursday, reaching $25.03. 1,002,951 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,330,165. Associated Banc has a 1 year low of $19.40 and a 1 year high of $28.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.21. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.94.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $336.52 million. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 8.15%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Associated Banc will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from Associated Banc's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.67%.

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.