Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 79,658 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,584,271 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 79,658 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.37% of Associated Banc worth $77,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Associated Banc by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 371,448 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,002,000 after buying an additional 125,899 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in Associated Banc during the third quarter valued at $268,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Associated Banc by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,230,340 shares of the bank's stock worth $177,282,000 after buying an additional 261,877 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Associated Banc in the 3rd quarter worth about $291,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,438 shares during the period. 82.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ASB shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Associated Banc from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Associated Banc from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on Associated Banc from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Associated Banc from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Insider Activity

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

Associated Banc Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASB traded up $0.29 on Friday, reaching $23.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,322,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,458,442. Associated Banc-Corp has a 52-week low of $19.40 and a 52-week high of $28.18. The stock's 50-day moving average is $25.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.99, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.93.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.06. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 8.15%. The business had revenue of $607.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $336.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Associated Banc Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from Associated Banc's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Associated Banc's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.67%.

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.