Invesco Ltd. Purchases 97,524 Shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB)

Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) by 15.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 714,585 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 97,524 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.47% of Associated Banc worth $17,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 49.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,747 shares of the bank's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Associated Banc during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Associated Banc during the 4th quarter valued at $64,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Associated Banc during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Associated Banc by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the bank's stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. 82.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.71, for a total transaction of $172,970.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 49,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,223,021.45. This represents a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.09, for a total value of $71,004.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 66,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. 1.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on ASB. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Associated Banc from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Associated Banc from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $27.00 to $26.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.67.

Associated Banc Stock Performance

NYSE ASB opened at $19.93 on Monday. Associated Banc-Corp has a 1 year low of $18.32 and a 1 year high of $28.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of 25.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average of $22.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.88.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. Associated Banc had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 5.15%. As a group, analysts expect that Associated Banc-Corp will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.62%. Associated Banc's payout ratio is currently 116.46%.

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.

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