Farringdon Capital Ltd. Invests $388,000 in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 16,218 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $388,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ASB. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 221.0% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,499 shares of the bank's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 49.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,747 shares of the bank's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter worth $64,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Associated Banc during the 4th quarter worth about $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Associated Banc from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Associated Banc from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Associated Banc from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.67.

Associated Banc Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:ASB traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $21.29. 354,364 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,519,390. The company's 50 day moving average is $22.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.85. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.78. Associated Banc-Corp has a twelve month low of $18.32 and a twelve month high of $28.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.24%. On average, sell-side 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, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 116.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 owns 49,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,223,021.45. The trade was a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of Associated Banc stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 4.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% 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.