Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB) Given New $27.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Free Report) had its target price trimmed by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $29.00 to $27.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the bank's stock.

ASB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Associated Banc in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Associated Banc from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Associated Banc from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Associated Banc from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Associated Banc currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.00.

Associated Banc Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASB traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.47. 2,176,842 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,534,287. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business's fifty day moving average is $21.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.89. Associated Banc has a one year low of $18.32 and a one year high of $28.18. The stock has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 28.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.78.

Associated Banc (NYSE:ASB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.02. Associated Banc had a net margin of 5.15% and a return on equity of 8.24%. The firm had revenue of $348.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $347.86 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. Associated Banc's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Associated Banc will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Associated Banc Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. Associated Banc's payout ratio is 106.98%.

Insider Activity at Associated Banc

In other Associated Banc news, Director Eileen A. Kamerick sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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. This represents a 12.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John B. Williams sold 2,830 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 66,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,678,897.35. This represents a 4.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Associated Banc

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Associated Banc by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,066,871 shares of the bank's stock valued at $431,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444,068 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Associated Banc by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,838,422 shares of the bank's stock valued at $354,638,000 after acquiring an additional 1,272,441 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Associated Banc by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,849,649 shares of the bank's stock valued at $92,026,000 after acquiring an additional 265,378 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Associated Banc by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,248,435 shares of the bank's stock valued at $53,738,000 after acquiring an additional 111,310 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Associated Banc by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,182,882 shares of the bank's stock valued at $52,171,000 after acquiring an additional 362,267 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.98% 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.