Fmr LLC Grows Position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

FMR LLC boosted its position in Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,838,422 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 1,272,441 shares during the quarter. FMR LLC owned approximately 9.81% of Associated Banc worth $354,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ASB. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in Associated Banc in the third quarter worth approximately $278,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Associated Banc by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 19,971 shares of the bank's stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 5,438 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 worth $177,282,000 after purchasing an additional 261,877 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Associated Banc during the 3rd quarter valued at $268,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Associated Banc by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 371,448 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,002,000 after buying an additional 125,899 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Associated Banc from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Associated Banc from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $26.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. Finally, Raymond James cut 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 note on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.67.

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Associated Banc Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ASB traded down $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 528,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,601,564. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $22.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Associated Banc-Corp has a 12 month low of $18.32 and a 12 month high of $28.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 25.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.78.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts predict that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Associated Banc Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 116.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.